‘I can’t see a future where there is no Telegram’

No, to answer the numerous emails and calls I receive. I do not get paid by The Telegram. No, I do not get contacted by the editor asking me to write an opinion piece on a subject she chooses. My opinion is my opinion and, since 1921, when the first Op Ed as it later got to be called was published, newspapers and magazines have accepted opinions written by readers they deem newsworthy.

When I attended my first journalism class, the instructor asked us, "What is news?" One of my classmates made a complete fool of himself by blurting out that it stood for the first letter of the four main geographical directions. Others came up with their own explanations, but in the end the only true definition of news is the one he provided.

“News is what the editor decides is news!”

Before the advent of TV, radio and the damned social media, the news is what we saw in the newspaper and if it wasn't in the newspaper, then it wasn’t news. Hence, the editor decided what was news.

We’ve all read the news that our paper, The Telegram, is going through a financial restructuring. Another term for having trouble to make ends meet.

And it’s our fault. And by ‘our’ I mean those who are not subscribing to the Telegram, advertising and otherwise supporting it.

Yes, I get some of my news from CBC, VOCM and CNN. Yes, I post items for sale on KIJIJI and NL Classified. And I can’t see that changing in the future. But I do maintain my subscription and I can’t see a future where there is no Telegram.

There are so many reasons why newspapers must be a mainstay of communities.

First, there is no anonymity in a newspaper. Journalists have bylines. They can’t post lies and misinformation and hide behind the internet veil. Remember the saying, only believe anything what you read and half of what you see. On the internet, you can’t trust anything that you see or read.

Second, it’s a fulltime job correcting the spelling, grammatical and other errors in articles that appear online. It’s so frustrating that it takes away from the story, and at the end of every paragraph is an ad, and if you’re real lucky, you won’t have to click to another page.

Third, newspapers have headlines, but the headlines aren’t the story. A journalist who is able to spell and use correct grammar, provides a detailed accounting of what the headline represents. Research has shown that people getting their news online only read the headlines and are grossly misinformed.

Fourth, radio news is an audio medium. TV is an audio-visual medium but research again has shown that people listening or watching the news turn to newspapers for more detail about an issue. These former mediums provide fast news and are invaluable but their mandate is not detail.

Fifth, on-air radio staff have to have a ‘radio voice’. On-air TV staff have to have the ‘radio voice’ and be visually appealing. Remember Lisa Laflamme, let go midcareer because she didn’t fit the mold anymore? Print journalists can be smelly, unappealing, unattractive and/or poor dressers because news is what is important, not sound or visuals.

Sixth, TV, radio and internet news bottle feed us. It takes an effort to pick up a newspaper and actually read it. And once you’re tried it, it will become addictive in a very good way. You will actually learn to a read and understand and to get all aspects of a story.

So, what can we do to ensure newspapers continue to be an integral part of our educations.

As private citizens, we should subscribe. $2.25 a month for a digital subscription if you’re addicted to your phone. $5 a month after the first year. Plus, you can claim it on your income tax. You can’t do that with your cable subscription.

All the schools should have subscriptions and dedicate class time to an article or two each day. Let the kids pick an article and talk about it. So much upside to this!

If you have a business, advertise. On all of those occasions when customers are sitting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, riding the bus, doing a number two, or any or all of those other locations, they will have access to the real news and the price of prime rib at the grocery store. All of those subscription people will see your ads and frequent your business.

Few things would make me happier than to read in this paper in a few days that there has been a spike in subscriptions and ad purchases. Come on! Let’s do it. $2.25 a month for the real news and a lot of people get to keep their jobs.

And if that doesn’t sell it, you will get to read my ramblings whenever the editor decides what I’ve written doesn’t insult most of the people who would read it.

I get more rejections than (expletive deleted).

Tom Badcock St. John's