For the first time in my life, I will not be receiving a print copy of the local newspaper. I'm joining those of you who read The Burrow and The New York Times on-line with your morning refreshments.
No longer will I unfold newsprint with my orange juice. Nevermore will the Opinion Page accompany my oatmeal. I cancelled my subscription to the print edition of The Arizona Daily Star.
Owned by Lee Enterprises, The Star still has editorial cartoons, unlike many other papers. It runs a full page of Letters to the Editor. Their Solutions Journalism long form projects really do contribute to making Tucson a better place. I can access all of that very comfortably on-line.
The comics are another story entirely.
Used to be, there were two full pages of comics and puzzles at the back of the Tucson & Region section. I'd get there after reading the local news and the opinions and staying up to date on the UofA in the sports pages. The last of my oatmeal and glass of milk went very well with the lives of fictional characters drawn by artists I've followed for decades.
All of that was taken away this week. The comics now occupy one quarter of one page. They are fewer and, infuriatingly and foolishly, they are smaller. I mean really smaller. I have to squint to read them. This is not conducive to a calm digestion.
And it costs $85 each month.
And so, reluctantly and with great regret, I called Subscription Services and changed to digital access only.
Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I miss my old life already.
It's so hard to move to a newer way of life. But, just think of it as a new adventure. Everytime we try something different we learn something! That's exciting.
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$85! Then I shouldn't be so upset that the Prescott paper recently went from $19/four weeks to $22.50, but I still am. Right before upping the price to $19 they went from 7 papers/week to 5, and that remains. Now they've taken away the print TV listings which I really counted on - I'm just not excited about spending more time on the computer to check TV shows. (My "smart" TV is too old to easily give me a guide.) Unfortunately the days of print newspapers are numbered and I will skip the local news rather than go all digital. So I feel for you!
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Oh, I love online newspaper. Actually plural, we have two. Terry pays $100 a year for the Fresno Bee and I pay $29.99 a month for the San Francisco Chronicle. No need to cancel the paper if we are going away. We can take the paper anywhere we go. The one thing I miss about the print edition, having newsprint to wrap things in.
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We are still getting the print version of the Seattle Times. I read it at my "lunch hour". All my years as an educator I never got an hour for lunch, so when I retired, that became my thing, a lunch hour! Yes, leave me alone then!
ReplyDeleteMy husband reads most of his news online, but I like the paper.
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My local newspaper is also owned by Lee Enterprises, and made the same changes to the comics. During the week I read the e-edition, so that still has a whole page of comics in color-some I know, some I don't, and some that I am rediscovering. I figure it's healthy for me to adapt to change.
ReplyDeleteHowever, two days ago they switched to a new e-format. Instead of being able to scroll from page to page on my tablet I now have to click and let each page load. It's time consuming and annoying, because I like to read the comics section FIRST before I tackle the real news..
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