Shrinking Newspapers

Went out in the cold rain this morning to pick up my Plain Dealer which had been accurately pitched by the carrier unto my muddy tree lawn. Luckily the carrier did encase it in a plastic sheath. I'll deal with both actions when I get my annual Christmas letter.

Better I had waited for the rain to cease. This morning like all mornings I had retrieved a poor imitation of a newspaper. Back in Depression days it would have been received unfavorably as a needed substitute for toilet paper. Sorry, I'm exaggerating but how else can you describe today's daily rag. Watch an old movie and you will see a real newpaper - large enough to serve as a small tablecloth.

Its gotten to the point that the only news fit to print is the sports news and corruption in County government. They are probably the only two categories that impress advertisers. As the paper's executives make clear, you can't publish a newspaper without advertisers.

Well, I get the point. If I want good coverage of world news I should watch TV. If I want the ranting of sports columnists I should read the Plain Dealer. I must admit the paper has quite an array of sports reporters and columnists. One columnist even doubles as a religious columnist. That makes sense since Cleveland sports are in dire need of the intervention of that great fan in the sky.

From the standpoint of writing, the ranting of sports writers outshines the drab reporting of metro writers. Probably because they are not saddled with a journalism education.

Actually the Plain Dealer could publish a reputable sports section with about half of the sports personnel they have. My suggestion is that they cut the sports newsprint in half.

Upon further thought, the foregoing is not such a good idea. The paper would be so light that I would have to search every bush on the street trying to find it. Actually the Plain Dealer has a better suggestion. All I need to do is to go to http://www.cleveland.com/ and I will get all the news I need with links to all the newspapers.com. Having been there, I can only report that it is one of the most confusing web sites I have encountered.

Of course if we all get our news on the Internet or TV there will be hundreds of unemployed carriers. That's not good, their Christmas letter is the only Christmas greeting I have been receiving lately.

I'll opt for continuing my subscription to the shrinking Plain Dealer. As they say , half a loaf is better than none!