Mining the last mining-newspaper for the final nugget

BlogHerald reports that in the past six months U.S. Newspaper circulation has dropped a further 3.6 per cent.  This is primarily because more people are turning to online resources.  

I do not know the numbers for this blog, but I bet the hits and visitors have gone up by more than 3.6 per cent in the past six months.

I do not read newspapers anymore.  I scan the occasional Canadian Globe and Mail; but it is so repetitive: every issue has a least one article on the homeless, one on drug addicts, one on prostitutes, one on buildings that should not be torn down, and one on the wickedness of the US.   Why should I pay for that, or even waste my time looking at my boss’s free copy?

When travelling in the US, I pick up the occasional U.S. News & World Report with its colorful pages.  But even that can be absorbed in less time than it takes the average breakfast waitress to bring the coffee. 

I subscribe to and read in detail these magazines: The New Yorker; American Scientist; and The Economist.  I can get the online versions.  But I like the paper versions on the SeaBus, in the sun on a Sunday morning, and in the bathroom. 

Everyday I turn to Google News which I have customized to give me news on topics and places that interest me: California, DC, Iowa, and Canada.  Then I do a special Google News search with the keyword “mining” and then the same for blogs via Google. 

I have listed in my computer favorites these additional news-providing sites: The Huffington Post;  Tyee; and American Thinker. 

So I read as much, if not more, news and opinion than every before.  But it is personal, relevant to my lifestyle, and immediate.  Why would I bother if the newspapers simply went away.  Truth is I would not. 

As for mining magazines and newspapers: I confess that while I write for one, I read none.  They are always so far behind the times, or so full of stuff doled out by advertisers, or so full of inane articles, they almost make me cross with despair.  They too could simply go away and I would find the world a better place.  And think of the reduction in environmental impact and carbon footprint.  Nice if we can make life better, more informed, and easier by doing the environmentally right thing. 

So here is the last newspaper reader floating on the Dead Sea.