The Demise of the Daily Newspaper

The Detroit News and her sister paper, The Detroit Free Press, have announced that they are cutting back on home delivery. Beginning in March, they will only deliver on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

There are folks who lament that decision. For many, they simply like their morning paper; that's understandable enough. It's been apart of their lives for, well, likely all their lives. I'll miss it myself in that regard. A cup of joe while looking over the headlines was always a treat.

Others fear the loss of a major part of the mass media. That concern I do not share. With cable and satellite TV with all those news channels, and the Internet making access to information almost immediate, where, really, is the need to hold a paper in your hands? Considering, too, the lack of objectivity on most newspaper staffs, it seems that getting fair and objective reporting is more likely to stem from the flow of the Web than to arrive at your front door. Besides, I have to wonder if this is more liberal hypocrisy at work. We're supposed to save the environment and use less paper; this is a perfect opportunity. Yet as the media is one of those oxen they hate to gore, well, trees be damned on this front. When they want something done, such as private jets for Pelosi, the environment somehow becomes a lesser issue.

In the end, we'll merely get along with the morning news. No great upheaval there, my friends, no matter what may get said about it. As the old saw goes, no one misses whale oil since the invention of the electric light. Don't cry for the print media; rejoice in your liberation from it. You may just find that you can actually think better for yourself without it.