I just canceled my Saturday and Sunday newspaper. The final straw was when my paper came on Christmas Eve at 6 PM for Christmas Day. Also, I have to walk all the way down my long driveway to get the paper.
When I was a paperboy, you always got the paper near the front door so the customer was not inconvenienced. You would think in this day and age, when the industry was dying, they would at least make an attempt to appreciate customers, and not bring them old news ??
Newspapers published for holidays have been printed the evening before at least since the 1960s, when I was a paper boy.
Ha I was also a paperboy – it was a great job, for a kid. I don’t know what to think about my newspaper being delivered by an adult in a car who drops it at the end of my driveway. I would cancel my subscription for that alone but my wife still wants the paper. At least I don’t feel any guilt about not giving a Christmas for the lousy service.
And why is there a paper on Christmas at all? What news could possibly be so important that some poor reporters have to work on Christmas or Christmas eve? (I know it’s the advertising, not the news).
I do understand that you probably can’t find a kid ambitious enough to deliver papers these days. My own kids would turn up their noses at the job because they make ten times that much babysitting for working mothers. (Obviously not mothers making minimum wage, since my kids make double that taking care of their kids.)
Sadly it is time for the newspapers to go. At one time you could argue that they at least provided a fair, unbiased account of activities, but I personally know of cases where rich people have suppressed the news of their kids arrests (F & M). And, of course, there’s always the question of fair coverage concerning the convention center.
I suspect soon we will all just download our news for the internet automatically sort of like an electronic newspaper(less) delivery. The money the newspapers save might save the jobs of some reporters. But it won’t be as fun doing the crossword puzzle. And how will I line the bird cage?