Rumors of print's demise greatly exaggerated

The television and Internet news outlets sure like to tell us that the newspaper business as we know it is dying.

About once a month, you see a story that gives us some flimsy timeline for the death of print media. Some give it 10 years, some give it more, and some are already planning the funeral. They cite studies and trends, but you can make results say anything you want if you get the right cross-section of people.

The decrease in newspaper subscriptions is certainly something to consider, but I don’t think a downward trend essentially means death. They want people like me to believe that we work on a sinking ship; and that the nixing of the newspaper is an inevitability.

They think that if they keep saying it, then it will become more true with time. You don’t actually have to kill a man if you have already convinced everyone that he is dead. They do these stories regularly to keep the noble print media maven down.

People like me will keep appearing on people’s doorsteps for one reason, and that is our fiercely loyal readers. There are people who would have trouble getting through their day without their daily paper. It’s kind of like coffee, except it’s a lot less expensive.

If the good people did not get their newspapers, then we would have rioting in the streets. We’re like a trusty old friend that drops by once a day and has the juiciest rumors to tell. We will survive because we are a part of many people’s daily routine.

And even worse, if we didn’t have newspapers, we wouldn’t have anything to house train the dog on, we wouldn’t have anything to cover the grease stains in our garage, and we would have to go out and buy drop cloth whenever we needed to paint something.

Print media does have a couple of advantages left. You get your news much faster than you would from a late- night news broadcast, and you don’t even have to use electricity to receive it.

Let’s start cooking up some stories about how television news is going to be phased out by Internet news, and that Internet news is going to be phased out by something even more technologically advanced. We might even get to the point that we have news receivers implanted into our brain, and that scares me.

Some think that the Internet is the logical evolution of print media. I would appreciate a job at the purely digital Sedalia Democrat as much as I appreciate this job, but it just wouldn’t feel the same. It wouldn’t have that same oomph. A story on a heartless Internet site just isn’t as pleasing to the eye as one on a well laid out newspaper page. Besides, a story that was only printed online doesn’t really look very good in a writing portfolio, and without those, no writer would get anywhere.

And I suppose they would be right; The Sedalia Democrat is already half digital. I encourage you to read this story again at http://www.sedaliademocrat.com/, just click the opinion tab, scroll down to columns, and click the little recommend arrow next to each of my stories. Make an account and leave some comments too; we always love comments.

Let’s not go silently into that good night, let us fight for the medium that we love. Buy an extra subscription, wallpaper the outside of your house with the front page, and send letters to your congressman detailing why you love that fresh morning paper.

Now most of you are are sitting there, scoffing at all this paper patriotism. But even if it is only a small handful of you, there are a couple of people standing on their chairs and pumping their fists in the air. We won’t let it die, even if we have to print it on discarded cardboard boxes using ink made out of ground up berries.

The newspaper has benefited society for centuries, and it is time we returned the favor and protested against its supposed death.

Maybe I am ignoring the writing on the wall, and the grand newspaper tradition really is on it’s way out. Maybe I am blinded by my allegiance and desire to continue having a job. If this ship really is going down, then I will be proud to go down with it; but I don’t see any icebergs in the distance.

Newspapers will continue to exist for hundreds of years. If I am wrong, then I am sure I will be quoted frequently and ridiculed long after my death.