WHAT’LL WE DO NOW?

The 2020 Election is pretty well over. Yes, it’s being contested, but it doesn’t look like that effort is going anywhere. According to various polls, at least half of Americans think there was voter fraud, but there’s no proof. That may stir up a little flurry in the media, but the pre-election frenzy has fizzled out. As Richard Nixon said in 1962, after losing the California governor’s race, “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Trump could say the same thing. What’s going to happen to people like Rachael Maddow, Sean Hannity, Don Lemon, and Tucker Carlson? What will they rant and rave about, and what’ll we do now?

Print media will have the same problem. Have you read the newspapers the past few days? If it weren’t for the coronavirus epidemic, I don’t know what they would have to report. They’re filling their pages with more and more “soft news” on topics like disease, domestic abuse, and jail overcrowding.. Honestly, I don’t know why we still take two newspapers. Guess it’s just force of habit. None of our adult children have newspaper subscriptions, and I don’t think they’re going to start buying newspapers now.

Cable news, especially, will suffer. CNN, MSNBC have provided fodder for the liberals . while conservative Fox News scores highest in prime time viewing. . Network news is federally regulated, and makes it’s money through advertising. Higher ratings mean they can charge more to advertise. Unfortunately for them, Cable news isn’t heavily regulated, so they can up their ratings and attract more advertisers because of all their outlandish political diatribes against one party or the other.

This past week, we’ve done a lot more channel surfing. We’ll watch anything but cable news. The other night, we watched a fascinating documentary “Mountain Men.” Since both of us come from farm backgrounds, it probably appealed to us more than the average city slicker.

Actually, it’s been rather relaxing. You don’t have to endure irritating social media posts about politics. Or avoid people with opposing political views. The excitement is over. But, what’ll we do now?

June 22, 2020June 22, 2020

NEWSPAPERS WOULD DIE WITHOUT OBITS

Who would have two morning newspapers delivered to their home? My husband and me, that’s who. We’re old fashioned people who grew up in the days when they were a major source of news about current events. Now, there’s little in the papers that we haven’t seen on the internet or TV. Consequently, obituaries are the only unique stories newspaper have to offer. Newspapers would die without obits.

With newspapers pages dwindling, there’s less “hard news” . Readers look for juicy scandals and crime and major events. They’re interested in local politics that affect their lives. We don’t get much hard news lately. There aren’t enough reporters on staff. Therefore, we get more” soft news”. Long stories about sick children with rare diseases, or protest marches. Columns of print about frogs or daffodils or the changing of the season. Recipes make good fillers, too. The ones that make it to print are full of weird ingredients and time consuming procedures. I used to try some of those recipes. As a result, my cupboards got overloaded with strange spices that I never used.

The only unique thing about newspapers are the obituaries. They’ve undergone some radical changes in the past decade. Time was when obits were fairly cut and dried. Year of birth. Marriages. Children. Education. Clubs . Survivors. Profession. Charities . Date and time of funeral. Long obituaries were discouraged for the average, middle class person.

Obituaries are the most interesting things to read. Newspapers would die without obituaries. — Obituaries have become much more interesting. Newspapers would die without obituaries.

Obituaries have become like mini biographies We learn the deceased was the youngest or oldest of 10 children. What schools they attended from kindergarten on up. Scholastic achievements and honors. Whether they were football players or cheerleaders or valedictorians . Often married “the love of their life..” Became a fabulous mother/father, grandparent, host and friend. Enjoyed pastimes like bowling, painting, golfing, bridge. Had hobbies like quilting or woodworking. Every award they ever received in their entire life. Each job they held,. Countries visited, Volunteer work . A lot of creative writing goes into a decent obituatry.

I love reading obituaries, especially if the deceased was very old. Of course, we never read about their failures and disappointments. Consequently, the fantasy of a perfect life is carefully preserved for posterity. Doesn’t everybody love a happy ending?

Newspapers would die without the obituaries.

April 3, 2020April 5, 2020

OUR NEWSPAPER HAD A GREAT FALL

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/ Humpty Dumpty had a great fall/All the kings horses and all the kings men/Couldn’t put Humpty back together again.” Once upon a time, newspapers had great power. They could sway elections and make or break someone’s career overnight. That was when small town newspapers published all sorts of personal information. If Sears Roebuck took you to court over a $400 unpaid bill, they printed it in the paper. Divorces were announced on the inside page. You were at their mercy. Any misstep was fair game. But suddenly, that’s over. Like Humpty Dumpty, our local newspaper has had a great fall.

Back in 1912, they built a four story building on Main Street. If you walked in the back door to meet with a reporter or editor, you could hear the printing presses thrumming. Everything was there—immediacy, excitement, urgency, and most importantly, power. Being the publisher or editor on the top floor epitomized prestige and social standing. It was still that way a scant 14 years ago, when our local paper built a new, two and a half million dollar building near their old offices.

Newspapers have lost circulation and have had a great fall — Like Humpty Dumpty, our newspaper had a great fall

But then everything went downhill. The best reporters were let go, or left. Quantity, not quality, became the norm. Hard news, defined as news or investigative journalism that deals with serious topics and events, requires more journalists. Soft news is defined as information that is primarily entertaining or personally useful. It’s easier to produce and can be done at a leisurely pace. It also fills more space and is far less interesting. If you want soft news, you can read a magazine. And yet, the newspaper’s front pages began featuring more and more“soft news.”

Consequently, circulation dropped, and the newspaper’s advertising revenues began to dwindle. At the same time, Television and the internet have replaced many of the newspaper’s functions. Younger generations no longer subscribe to newspapers. And so, the big expensive building was no longer sustainable. This year, the entire newspaper staff moved their offices to the basement of a neighborhood mall that’s struggling for occupancy. Today, they announced the paper will only be published five days a week, rather than seven.

Newspapers have lost the ability to influence public opinion. No one cares who they endorse for office or what they think about plans for a new jail. Yes, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And no one can put Humpty back together again.

***********************************************************************************************