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Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Note from an Avid Reader
Disappointing Circulation Decline
By Oren M. SpieglerAs an avid reader of about twenty newspapers per week and as a newspaper contributor through letters to the editor, it saddens me to note that according to the latest survey, newspaper readership continues to steadily decline nationwide.
The newspaper continues to be a valuable encyclopedia of up to the minute information, serving every possible constituency with news, opinion, weather, advertising, sports, and countless other features. It remains one of the great bargains of our time, heavily subsidized, of course, by advertisers. The ability of a production staff to put together a daily paper with such an extraordinary amount of information packed in is a constant amazement to me.
I rarely go anywhere that I might have idle time without bringing along newspapers to read. As I ride public transit, happily reading my newspapers, I note so many individuals who always use their commuting time to stare out the window into space, apparently with nothing better to do. Have they no interest in being informed, knowing what is going on in the world around them?
I have told my wife, with some seriousness, that I would like for my tombstone to read, "You will never be lonely if you love to read." Newspapers are my primary source of satisfying my thirst for knowledge and engaging in lifelong learning. The decline in their popularity does not make for a bright, enlightened, successful populace, and does not bode well for our future.
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Posted by fm on November 09, 2005 at 12:50 AM