All the news that's fit to print

First, you must all know my bias:

-- I have a degree in journalism.

-- I worked for a newspaper up until the day my first child was born.

-- I am working for a newspaper now that my youngest child is twenty-something.

-- I start every day reading a newspaper.

Second, you should know why I believe newspapers are the best place to get the news:

-- They select the news based on its substance, not its video.

-- House fires and car accidents are on B3 rather than being the lead stories.

-- You can choose which articles and/or sections to read in detail and which to skim.

-- You get more than 3 minutes per story.

-- Two words: Local news.

--More words: City council meetings, school board boundary decisions, high school football games that you think might not be interesting but that should be. As well as the stuff we all know everyone reads: murders, violence, arrests. Plus the features on latest studies, successful students, awards, and on and on and on -- every day.

-- The ads are less intrusive and can be easily avoided.

-- Reporters don't have to be cute.

-- Less pervasive teasers.

-- More in depth information -- and you choose how much you want to know of each topic.

Finally, you should know that I consider one of the biggest tragedies of this economic turndown and electronic upswing the loss of so many newspapers.

We need the news. We need to know about what the city council is doing and what new businesses are in town and what's happening at the high school.

We need reporters. They'll tell you the things the government won't volutneer in case we might object. Permit me a common feeling held by members of the press: they're the fourth estate. They keep watch over the other three.

We need newspapers. We need to get more than the ranting of pundits on cable and the joking of comedians on the network and the rudeness of anonymous posters on the Internet.

If you agree with me on any point, please consider:

-- Subscribing to a newspaper.

-- Buying something from someone advertising in the paper and letting them know you saw the ad in the paper (yes, it comes down to money).

-- Paying for the news you read on-line when asked.

You'll be glad you did. We all will be.


(Pictures above are from some World Ward II editions of a newspaper in Kaysville that went out of business years ago.)