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The plight of newspapers & its impact on the hobby…
April 20, 2009 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
In recent years–and to a greater degree recent months–we’ve been hearing about the demise of the newspaper, at least that edition which has appeared on newsstands & doorsteps for many generations. Much blame goes to the internet and our increasingly digital society, although the proliferation of cable news, now available 24 hours a day, shares in the blame as well.
For us hobbyists, who have collected the “hard copy” while they are still rolling off the presses across America, what will the impact be if print editions die off completely?
If the past is any example I would suggest there will be heightened interest in collecting newspapers. Much of what is popular today in the collecting world are items which are now obsolete: phonograph records, old telephones, mustache cups, treadle sewing machines, and on and on. While one school of thought is that interest is heightened once an item is no longer produced, another thought is that collecting interest will fade when they are no longer produced. How many thousands of items which have faded from memory & long ago ceased production are not on the “radar” of collectors?
Let hear of your thoughts. You are the collectors; your passion and holdings may well be impacted one way or the other if current newspapers cease publication. How do you think this could impact the hobby?