[IamJen]

Skylark's dictionary thread got me thinking about this again. I read news online, but I far prefer to have an actual smelly, inky newspaper in my hand. I tried for awhile to go without buying any paper, as I think it's a bit of a waste, environmentally speaking, but my print-lust got the better of me. I grew up, many late afternoons, with the (then evening) paper spread out on the table. I regular check in online with the papers of my youth (The Post-Dispatch, The Chicago Tribune, The Grand Rapids Press), along with those I just find interesting (Washington Post, SF Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, CityPaperDC). I find stories worth reading and indeed, can spend far too much time absorbed in these sites, yet it doesn't begin to compare with the joy of opening the paper (currently The Independent) on Sunday and working my way through from the hard news to the features to the business stuff, all the way back to the sports page (although sadly MLB coverage seems to be lacking here).

I hope newspapers never die.

 

[~Wonder]

I wish cancer on all newspapers. Sorry, my father is a notorious collector, he won't even empty his answering machine. He has stacks of newspapers/magazines/books from before I was born. I absolutely despise them. I seriously have had nightmares of a gigantic stack of The Chicago Tribune falling on top of me. I much prefer to read my news online. I can filter out the crap and so far, no digital nightmares. The TV news has too much not so witty banter and very loud commercials. Plus I really don't care which celebrity go who pregnant.

But news is overrated anyhow. I much prefer staying oblivious.

~Wonder

 

[sf.girl]

I always read the news online, San Francisco news because its my home, and BBC because I live in the UK right now. I think newspapers are a waste.

 

[Iria]

I like reading the news online for up-to-date news, particularly national and international or "weird" news that's not really worthy of a newspaper. I read my local newspaper daily (I worked there when I lived at home, so I guess I have to--but I enjoy it anyway). I like the print newspaper for the pictures, the local news (including obituaries, letters to the editor, etc.), the comics, the random little magazines they occasionally threw in, Annie's Mailbox (I'm hopelessly addicted)... I read almost the whole thing cover to cover. It's just so nice to get new reading material in the mail every day. It's mostly for the local news, though. You just can't get quality local news online, even on our own newspaper's Web site.

 

[Sevenseas]

Paper editions are wasteful and besides, one of the most awful things in the world is an opened newspaper. It takes the whole damn table and is so difficult to manage that I'd just like to rip it apart.

 

[Marie]

I like the Sunday papers in England because they come with free DVDs.

 

[remilard]

Sunday New York Times - Print

WSJ - Online

You also get a lot more with an online subscription, which is cheaper than a print subscription. Even if I got the print WSJ I would keep the online subscription because there are so many extras that I use.

 

[Skylark]

For casual reading, I can't live without my print newspaper. However, if I want to do more than that, such as check readers' comments to a story, search the archives or look at a specific day's edition, it's all online.

I use both on a daily basis. As a newspaper reporter, it's so helpful to have the archives accessible because the reporters who have been there longer than I may not remember all the details of an issue that's been dragging on for years. So, I go back and read all the stories on the issue in the online archives.

However, few things irritate me more than my computer refusing to connect to the website, which happens nearly every day for hours.

It seems to be just my computer.

I'll borrow another reporter's computer if it's urgent I get into the archives.

If we went all-online, I would miss the paper edition. I can carry the paper copy more places than I can carry a computer. One time, on the way to an event I was covering, I realized I didn't remember whether the event was going on at the high school or the middle school in that district. However, I had the previous day's paper with me, so at a stoplight, I flipped to my preview story on the event and found where I had included the location. Waiting for my laptop to boot up would have taken longer, and I would have had to pull off the road.

Convenience depends on the situation.

 

[Amy SF]

I'm an old fashioned girl in certain ways. I still subscribe to the Los Angeles Times seven days a week. And yes, it is a bit of a waste. I tend to have so much newspaper for recycling that it often threatens to take over my apartment.

However, since I have dial-up at home, it's convenient and lots faster to have paper news sitting around than to log on just to see if the headlines have changed.

But since I do like to keep up with the headlines, I'll check the news online as well while I'm actually online. And it's faster to get online at work, so I'll do it at work, too.

 

[Joe]

I don't know if you've ever checked this, but some papers (more probably local ones) have somewhat different versions of the same story on-line vs. in print. It varies, but sometimes you may see several paragraphs in the on-line version of a story that got chopped out of the print version, or vice versa.

 

[Qwerks]

I want the paper, specifically the Saturday Star. I don't want a subscription I like the ritual of going to the corner store and paying for it, then coming home and making a pot of coffee and sipping a fresh cup while I pull the sections apart.

I will only read online articles if someone links to them and tells me what they're about beforehand.

 

[WonderRandy]

I like both.

For national and world events, I usually go to a major online news site. And I'll occasionally check out our local paper online, but they don't post it until the next day... and it doesn't have all of the content of the print edition.

I work in a library 3 days a week, and on those days I almost always read the Hilo Tribune Herald, and I'll probably leaf through the Honolulu Advertiser. But I often don't get much further than the Horoscopes and Dear Abby.... I always feel like I'm conspicuously slacking... at least when I'm on the computer, one can assume I might be doing something relevant to my job....

 

[IamJen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwerks

I want the paper, specifically the Saturday Star. I don't want a subscription I like the ritual of going to the corner store and paying for it, then coming home and making a pot of coffee and sipping a fresh cup while I pull the sections apart.

I will only read online articles if someone links to them and tells me what they're about beforehand.

At last, someone after my own heart. I too, would rather go out and get the (in my case Sunday) paper. Taking a walk in the morning air, talking the shop owner, reading the paper slowly. Ah...

 

[Ayrlin]

I'm an online reader, I can get my local and world news.

I find newspapaers themselves to be very wasteful.

That said I do buy the Sunday paper, It is a relaxing ritual I guess for me.

I get that paper, and sit down at the coffee shop and enjoy.

Its kinda my day of the week for no kids, no animals, just me.

 

[kraftykraft]

During the day, I get my news online, but if I am going to sit and read the news, I prefer the paper version. Especially on Sundays, me, my coffee and the extra thick Sunday edition.

 

[ynaffit]

I dislike the smell of printed newspapers and having to wash my hands after handling them, and they're certainly an awkward size, but the worst part for me is the feel of the paper.

 

[Skylark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ynaffit

I dislike the smell of printed newspapers and having to wash my hands after handling them, and they're certainly an awkward size, but the worst part for me is the feel of the paper.

The feel of the paper is what keeps me hooked. Granted, the broadsheet papers are more cumbersome than tabloid papers. (Contrary to popular usage, "tabloid" in the news industry does not refer to scandals-of-celebrities publications but rather to a size of newspaper.)

 

[IamJen]

Now see, I like tabloid style, but I find them more difficult to manage, especially on a bus, etc. I'm always trying not to lose the middle, lol.

I like the paper feel too...it's much like the debate over printed vs. e-books, imo. I have a friend however, who is like you tiffany, she abhors the feel of newsprint.

 

[Rotting]

Online news can change or disapear, so , so I find it important to have printed physical news.

"He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."

GEORGE ORWELL, Nineteen Eighty-Four