Saturday 2 December 2017

No paper

has yet appeared on the front lawn this morning. 
The Senior Cat has grumbled mildly and found something else to read at the breakfast table. (This is why it takes him a good hour to eat breakfast. As I simply leave him to breakfast alone it does not bother me.) 
But, no paper? I know there are people who never get a newspaper. Some of them "get all the news (they) need" on line or via television. Others don't even bother with that. 
Middle Cat reads ours - from back to front. She starts with the big sports section and only makes her way to other things if she has time.
The Senior Cat starts at the front and ignores anything to do with sport. (He also wonders how he produced the sports mad Middle Cat.) 
I can read the paper as thoroughly as I need to in the very short time it takes me to eat my breakfast. I don't bother with the sports section at all. There is very little international news in the state newspaper. If I want information then I head on line to a variety of other newspapers and news sites. If I need information then someone  out there is likely to tell me.
I know newspapers are declining rapidly in power and influence. We had three state wide papers when I was a kitten. There were also at least two regional papers of importance. They too have diminished almost to the point of being no more. 
I remember the local MP in one place telling my father about the plans for a new national newspaper.  Yes, it happened. Back then it was an exciting new development in the delivery of news. Now it too struggles to survive. 
I still miss the British newspapers I used to read. The university based accommodation I lived in got a variety. I could read at least three each day - in much the way I now read the state paper. I read the headlines, I looked a little further - and finished the article if it was of interest to me. I  ignored the sport - and relied on other people telling me who was winning the cricket. I had a mix of left, right and middle point of views. It was interesting and sometimes useful.
But I think the real decline of newspapers began with something else. I blame the packaging companies and the health inspectors. They insisted on those throw away cups and containers - with that horrid plastic lining.
Nobody wraps fish and chips in butcher's paper and newspaper any more.

 
 

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