In Search Of a Newspaper

Believe it or not, they still exist, but not easy to find!

At the end of my last op-ed, I pondered the idea of getting my news from an actual newspaper. At the time, I was half kidding, posing the question, “Do they still have those?”

This was last Monday, November 11^th, Veteran’s Day. After publishing the post, I decided to find a newspaper and read it. Once upon a time, you could get a printed newspaper anywhere. Vending machines catered to any local paper outside grocery stores, mini-malls, and even on some street corners. Those days are LONG gone! Yes, there are a few empty vending machine relics dotting the landscape, but the ones that haven’t been vandalized are completely empty and have been for a long time.

I had to use Google to see where there might be a newspaper I could buy near me—first stop: Walgreens Drug Store. There’s one about a mile away, and it was a lovely Southern California fall day, so I walked. I found a 2-shelf display near the exit that contained our community’s local paper, The Signal, with an above-the-fold story about how Congressman Mike Garcia held a narrow 1000-vote lead against George Whitesides. Again, this was Monday, November 11th, and by then, Whitesides held a 4000-vote advantage, with the race being called a few hours later. Clearly, the good people at The Signal took the weekend off, having written their copy the previous Friday when Garcia was ahead. Pass!

I tried the CVS across the street. Not listed on Google, but I figured I’d check anyway. No dice! Google told me newspapers were for sale at the Vallarta market across the street. Vallarta is a small grocery chain headquartered in the San Fernando Valley that caters to the Latino/Hispanic community. They have incredible prices on produce and the best hand-made tortillas I’ve ever eaten, but no newspapers. Google was wrong! They were also wrong about newspapers being available at Starbucks in the same shopping center.

7-11 was the last place on the list within walking distance, so I tried my luck. After walking around inside the store twice, I finally saw a shelf in the back near the stock room with a stack of papers called the L.A. Daily News and an LA Times “Special Election Edition,” dated from the previous Wednesday. At least the Daily News was current, so I made the purchase. There wasn’t much in there. The top front-page story was about how more veterans are becoming franchisers despite the so-called Mountain Fire in Ventura County already claiming more than 200 homes and businesses. That story was relegated to page 3. But alas, I found a newspaper! Not much to read, however. They did have a page dedicated to national and international headlines from the AP and a not-so-difficult-to-solve crossword puzzle, but I could see this paper wouldn’t cut it.

I decided to see how much a home delivery subscription was for the L.A. Times. Being an L.A. County resident, it made sense to stay as local as possible while still being able to get national and international news. To my surprise, a subscription that included daily and weekend home delivery was only $7/week, with an 8-week commitment. I signed up.

Knowing it would take a day or two for the delivery to begin, I tried again to find a paper the next day. Google said the local Barnes & Noble bookstore sold them, but nope! I went back to my local 7-11 and, behold! Their well-hidden newspaper display in the rear corner near the stock room actually had the day’s L.A. Times.

“This paper costs four bucks?” the young clerk asked astonishingly. “Yep,” I replied. $3.66 plus tax for a total of $4.01. It took him a few seconds to find the bar code to scan. Obviously, he doesn’t sell too many. At four bucks a pop, I can probably understand why.

Long story short (Too late for that!), I get the paper delivered every morning. For the past week, I’ve spent a part of my morning reading the news…in a newspaper…with my coffee beside me. It’s a relaxing experience, and while the L.A. Times is much thinner than before the internet, it’s still laid out with an abundance of well-written local, national, and international stories. Unlike the distracting, pop-up-ad-ridden news apps, the day’s printed news has a beginning, middle, and end. I’m reading about events in detail that I wouldn’t see on cable television or even the local or nightly network broadcasts. No “analysts” or “contributors” are adding their points of view to tell me how I should feel. I am no less informed than I was when I kept an eye on cable news for a good part of the day or followed journos on social media. In fact, I feel better informed but not stressed out or emotionally charged. My only frustrations lie in the occasionally overcomplicated Sudoku puzzles in the back of the entertainment section.

I still haven’t watched cable news since election night, nor have I spent much time on the social media apps I used to “doom scroll” constantly, and I haven’t missed a thing. Digesting the day’s events has once again become a healthy experience. I would highly recommend you try it and subscribe to home delivery of the local paper in your area (if you still have one). Carve out some time in your morning, grab a cuppa, and be informed on your own terms.