Do you pay for your news?
Sunday, May 10, 2020 at 06:37PM 
NPR's On the Media (May 8, 2020) did a show called "No News is Bad News" which laid out the dire financial straits traditional print newspapers are in. In a nutshell, ad revenues which had richly supported dailies and weeklies have all pretty much migrated to Facebook and Google leading to the decimation of professional reporting jobs. Facebook and Google, of course, are not content creators, let alone watchdogs of the public interest.
This makes me anxious.
Competent journalism, the Fourth Estate, is perhaps the only way that government and business are held to account for their actions. Whether an expose on polluted water, political dirty deeds, or financial malfeasance, we learn about the unethical and illegal actions of those in power primarily by a tenacious media.
Journalism itself is not without its problems. Sensationalism and bias toward both the left and right of the political spectrum is too common. Current coverage of the pandemic has been less than stellar. Politicians and others know how to game the media for personal advantage. But still I read the newspaper.
This relic has been a news reader since a kid, starting by enjoying the funny pages since a child, sitting at the kitchen table with the Des Moines Sunday Register. 60 years later, I still read the funnies every day, having subscribed to a newspaper all my life. Even during the five years I lived in Saudi Arabia, my dad would save the Sunday Registers and mail them to me once a month.
I like to think I do a small but important part in keeping journalism alive by actually paying for my news. I give Minnesota Public Radio $20 a month in membership dues. I subscribe the digital editions of both the Mankato Free Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, for about $17 a month each. A little over $50 a month total - less than I pay for Internet, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus each month. It is a good deal. I love the digital versions - access to the daily paper while traveling and no need to stop delivery when on vacation and less recycling.
Please don't complain about "fake" news or a lack of objectivity in the media unless you support real journalism. Subscribe to a newspaper. Support public radio. By a magazine. Make newspaper readers out of your kids.
You get what you pay for, especially when it comes to the news.
Reader Comments (2)
Our local small town newspaper just closed up shop after 100+ years. Thankfully, another publisher took charge and we now have a new local newspaper, only published once a week on Wednesdays. I have such a love for newspapers. Seeing my daddy read the newspaper every evening is how I got interested in reading for pleasure as a child. I give credit to Bil Keane of Family Circus fame for making me interested in books.
In a world where we can easily access news 24/7, I am still thankful for newspapers.
HI Mandy,
I love your email address!
Always happy to hear from a reader with whom a post resonated in some way. I truly hope newspapers and professional journalism will be a part of my grandchildren's life.
And yes, I still read the Family Circus today!
Doug