You couldn't have missed it. That Sunday newspaper weighing five pounds or more has shrunk! The same is true for some magazines. Why is this so? There are fewer ads. You see, it is ads that produce money. Subscriptions help pay the cost of paper, printing, etc. Those ads put money in the bank. Car dealerships that gave us pages of new cars have cut back or completely opted out. Some larger newspapers have folded. Others will follow. The computer is the culprit, for our
newer generation grew up with a different way of getting the news. I am still a newspaper lover. It goes well with coffee early in the morning. The crossword and cartoons are there. Newspapers allow one to read it again, or cut out articles. It gives permanent information and news. I sure do hate to see them go.
I worked for the Fort Smith paper in various capacities from the eighth grade on through graduation. I have smelled the ink and heard the presses roll. I have slung those folded papers in yards and on porches, and even through a front window one Sunday morning. I have sold "extras" and collected money from the kids who used to sell on street corners along Garrison Avenue in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I have been featured in a Hadacol ad. I have sat with other newsboys and folded papers at 5:00 in the morning in front of a bakery, before delivering them. I have collected on Saturdays, and been wet and frozen and most everything else. A flat tire on a bike in the early morning hours, and loaded down with papers in an orange crate fastened on the back of the bike, is no fun. Newspapers! I love them.