So Long, Farewell Print Newspaper

Saturday, March 13, 2010

So Long, Farewell Print Newspaper

Sept 11

I was just at Murray’s reading the weekend Wall Street Journal and found a great piece about the importance of defending terrorists that I was anxious to pass on to all of you.

Unfortunately, I was reading the print edition. A moment of catharses?

I grew up inside the beltway, the son of a government housing official turned bookstore owner and lobbyist turned NGO High Priest. Some of my earliest childhood memories are walking down the steps to collect the three newspapers we had delivered each morning. At 12, I was reading two op-ed pages. Half-jokingly, I often say that I live in NYC so the Times will be my paper of record.

Clarity struck at 7:45 when I wanted to pass on this article to all of you, but I couldn’t because I was reading it in print. Obviously, this wasn’t the first time this had happened to me, but it was the most frustrating. I’m not romantic about getting newsprint on my hands or having the special skills that allow me to fold a Newspaper into an origami-like readfest. I just have been reading print papers for 35 years. It’s a habit, but I think I need to break it.

It started 6 months ago. I started reading the NYT the night before and waking up to find I had read much of the work. I know I spend a lot on the paper each year (I try not to know how much because I haven’t wanted to cancel), but it feels like the time is drawing near. I’m not happy about it. Strangely I even feel some guilt. But I also feel a keen sense of duty to pass along what I read so that people will treasure these newspaper brands the way I do. I feel that I’m a brand advocate for the WSJ and the NYT. I believe in them. I want them to make it to the other side.

How is it possible that so many smart newspaper executives have not been able to figure out a way to transition me as a paying customer?

here’s the piece I wanted you to read. It’s about the importance of defending even the worst of the worst. It’s a good thing to remember for those of us who saw their world view called into question on September 11th 2001. The author: Tim McVeigh’s attorney who went through hell during and after the trial. Read it.