the case for the newspaper

I've noticed that people who read newspapers struggle to explain why they like them. At best, their response is a detailed description of what they do - they like walking to the store, they like feeling it in their hands, they like spreading out its many sections on the table. But if you want to know why? Good luck.

If I were hired to make the argument for this inarticulate crowd, I would point out that newspapers are readable, at least in comparison to the online equivalent. In a newspaper, there are no glittering banner ads, no embedded videos, and no insistent hyperlinks - it's just the promise of a story and a few hundred words, printed without the distractions, that may or may not hold up the bargain.