I love newspapers and for three decades read 3 or 4 a day. Magazines? At my peak I received and read 70 magazines month. Today I receive no print newspapers and subscribe to no print magazines. And the ultimate irony in this is that my wife is an award winning journalist who has written more than 2,500 articles for print media.

As one might deduce I love reading. In my library I have a special reading chair to sit in and read newspapers, magazines and books. To close the door and close out the world, to sit and hold in my hands news of the world or magazines that challenge, engaged and expand my thinking is a source of great joy. But my reading chair is not used much anymore.

Recently I bought a wonderful new adjustable comfortable executive chair that I sit in at my desk where I spend hours each day on the web, much of it reading, researching and exploring.

There is no single reason for this change, though it would not have happened if it were not for the Web. The change in my news gathering and reading habits is a combination of many factors; some of the key ones are below.

Timeliness – there is nothing in a print newspaper that is ‘breaking’ news, or even new, it is old. All national and international news in the printed papers I have already seen, sometimes on the newspaper’s own web site. Timeliness also means I don’t have to wait to learn the news until my paper delivery person happens to get around to delivering my paper.

Relevance – I find and read only what I am interested in without thumbing through pages of irrelevant articles.

Time – I read much more of what I want and which engages me, in less time online

Scope – When I find a fascinating thought in an article on the web I can instantly link to or search for more information on the subject, without moving from my new desk chair.

Surprise – Linking to related information provides fascinating new insights and surprising views and information that I would not find or read about in print media.

Veracity – There are times an article is a great story, almost too good to be true. Is the reporter or editor slanting the piece one way or the other? Online I instantly check out the author of the piece, read some of their other work to see their approach, style any potential slants, biases or hype factor, the same with the publication and the subject and/or subject matter.

Recall – while reading is fun, exciting and of great personal enjoyment to me, no one pays me to read. My work is taking what I find and putting it together with other information, putting it in context, showing previously unseen connections and explaining its import. Anything I read online can instantly be saved, with my highlights and annotations, to my database with a click of my wireless, ergonomic mouse (no more clip files or scanning or…).

Classifieds? - Craigslist?

Environment – to disseminate information on the web comes at no additional environmental impact. In an age of increasing awareness of global warming this is in stark contrast to the net impact of harvesting trees, processing them to paper, printing with ink, and all the related transportation and delivery energy impacts. And then there is the recycling, not especially convenient up here in the Rocky Mountains.

Costs – It costs money to print and distribute hardcopy that online doesn’t. At the beginning of the year when the Post asked me for $52 to renew my subscription (a really great value), it was with great sadness that I passed – allowing my subscription to lapse.

There are times when I will still buy a magazine and sit in my overstuffed chair in my library and read it. I do this to change state. The few I buy are about in-depth topics or issues that I want to ponder, to experience, even though they are available online. Occasionally I still buy a Sunday edition of a big daily in our area to enjoy the arts/entertainment section, the book section or editorial/opinion page. I do like in-depth narratives of local people and activities that have great photography and layout.

As I read what I have just written I find it disturbing and exciting. There is the personal quandary – it affects the future of my wife’s career – but the changes are creating opportunities that were unimaginable just a few years ago. It is a shift that is not being driven by any particular organization, corporation, political party or country. The shift is being driven by you and me, average people, who realize greater benefits in this new way of information gathering and dissemination over the old.

To envision the future of print media we must look beyond the obvious to see how the recent advancements impact more than reporting, news, distribution and advertising. These come together to reshape what we consider information, media, knowledge, and more importantly our individual lives, communities and our world.

Spherical,
Phil