Newspapers still have uses

Ask many people where they get their news and many will say from television. But the value of television news over newspapers leaves much to be desired, in my humble opinion.. Many seem to think they get it all on TV, since it’s up-to-the-minute, has sound and movement, and has pretty/handsome faces delivering a personal report.

I wonder if they have stopped to consider how long each story on the TV news actually is, how many stories there are, and how in-depth they are.

By contrast,  newspapers cover more stories, tell readers more about each one, and cover the facts that a few seconds on TV can’t possibly deliver. Newspapers also mention stories you won’t see on TV, such as the company that went bankrupt in the reader's hometown, the number of people without jobs this month, what the cost of gas means to the average consumer and what a favorite civic club is doing to raise money this month.

Can tv viewers cut out a picture of their child, parent or other relative and paste it in a scrapbook? Can they keep a copy of articles from tv in that same scrapbook? Can they take out articles they enjoy and read them again and again and sometimes pass them on to other people? Can they take the tv to the a quiet place and spend time catching up on their neighbors, what the state legislature is doing, how the war is going in whatever country the action is in, who the local police department arrested over the weekend, and  what the calendar of events is for the coming week?

When we consider how technology has advanced, few of us would give up what’s been accomplished, including TV news. But let’s not forget that some “dinosaurs” have contributed to our way of life in ways we don’t think about.