Enough doom and gloom. Newspapers may be under threat – let’s face it, everything is under threat – but let’s celebrate them while we still can. Here are nine things we love about newspapers.
1. Newspaper Columnists Drive Us Mad.
We all have a columnist we love to hate. A straw poll at Swordplay, for example, saw Rod Liddle and David Baddiel brandished in the blink of an eye. And yet much though they infuriate, they serve a purpose. They get us riled, they get what Hermann Melville called our “hypos” up, they sometimes even make us think. Online, they’re just not the same. They’re mere cyphers of their annoying newsprint selves. Photo: Virgin Media.
2. Sunday Morning Lie-Ins.
Granted, for most days of the week we’ll read the paper on the bus or train, over breakfast or at lunch. But every now and then a Sunday morning lie in will come along. What better way to spend it than reading the Sunday papers? Sitting in bed with a laptop definitely isn’t one of them. Photo: Depicapica on Flickr.
3. The Pub, At Lunch.
We all love to read the papers over lunch. Sundays are again best for this, but any day of the week works just as well for this simple, ancient pleasure. It wouldn’t be the same if we were all clustered over a bunch of whizzy mobile phones, state-of-the-art laptops and Sony Readers. Photo: MSH at Flickr.
4. Newspapers Keep Us Guessing.
The Times has just relaunched its Saturday edition. A fine new paper it is, too, even if readers had to navigate their way around it for a few minutes before working out what’s what. Online, if it’s not simple it’s no good, and a relaunch will only make things easier. In print, a relaunch is an adventure.
5. Kids Don’t Want To Know What You’re Reading.
Those of us with children know that it is an infallible rule that the moment we sit down with a laptop, or any other modern communications device, our children will hear its siren call and appear, as if by magic, to torment us with questions about what we’re doing and whether they can join in. In marked contrast, they seem scared of newspapers, and leave us alone when we’re reading them. Photo: Jeff the Trojan.
6. Obituaries.
Can you imagine a world in which obituaries are only ever published online? Neither can we. If the dead are notable, their noteworthiness should be tangible.
7. Sport Is On The Back Page.
For many male readers, there is a certain rebellious joy in buying a newspaper, settling down to read it and turning immediately to the back page. However awful one’s job, or depressing the news, the back page provides an oasis of cheery and legitimate regression, as if all that really matters in life is how Arsenal, or Liverpool, or even a glamorous club such as Queens Park Rangers, played. Whizzy gadgets do not give the same experience.
8. Perchance To Dream.
Even in the midst of the present recession, the property supplements are still full of ridiculous houses that most of us will only ever be able to afford if we win the lottery. So, too, the travel supplements, with their helpful Guides to Island Hopping in the Caribbean and illumination of Luxury Heli-Skiing Breaks for Two. But it’s nice to dream. Isn’t it? Photo: Katerina 2353.
9. Fleet Street Is Real.
Fleet Street may now be a metaphor rather than the centre of the London media world, but at least it still exists. And, in all its gossipy, hard-drinking, occasionally scurrilous and always interesting glory, Fleet Street has a genuine sense of community. It’s still full of characters like Bob Warren, who sadly died recently and whose memorial service will be held at St Brides Church, Fleet Street, on 25 March.
In the online world, there is no equivalent – not even a metaphor to step in for the reality. So RIP Bob Warren but not, we hope, newspapers.
Jonathan Stewardson oil on canvas of Fleet Street courtesy of David Ilford.
- Written by admin
- Filed under Communication
- Leave a comment
