Saturday, March 27, 2010

Is it just me?

Think back in time, some of you, to when you read a paper paper.

Just how did you read it?

I’ve always started at the front, even as a kid, you couldn’t start with the comics.

Front page, second page, and so on. No flipping to page seven to finish the article you started with. You get to it at whatever page it continues on, which may be after the second or third article you started on the first page.

And at each page, you read what’s there, if it interests you, before you move on to what you’ve started on previous pages. By the end of a Sunday paper, back in the days when it was a real paper, you might have five or six articles going by the time you got to the end of a section.

I have no reason, much less a good reason, for this method of reading, other than maybe efficiency.

Just how weird am I?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only paper I get anymore is a Sunday paper, and I read it pretty much the way you do: front to back, section to section, with the comics dead last and throw away the crappy Parade magazine.

Sonja's Mom said...

We get a paper every day. I read the front (National) section first then the City & State section. If I start an article that continues on another page (and all of them do in our paper) I find the continuation and read to the end before starting another article. The comics are the last thing I read (always save the best for last) and we have to hunt for them. They are buried in the want ad section. I find this very weird and have complained about it to no avail. I know a lot of people read online but there is something about sitting down with a cup of coffee and the newspaper in the morning that just seems right. Guess I'm old fashion.

Posol'stvo the Medved said...

When I read a paper paper, I would typically scan each headline, pick the (maybe) three articles in the entire paper that interested me and read each one start to finish -- flipping to the conclusion of the article when I was ready. I would start with the comics, and I would then go to the sports and/or entertainment sections before being lured to the from page.

I guess you can see there's a reason I never felt that a paper was worth the cost of the subscription.

Kim said...

I read the paper every day. I like to start with the local news section of the paper because it contains the opinions and letters to the editors. If I start an article and find it terribly interesting, I'll flip to the back of the paper to finish it. Otherwise, I'll just finish it when I get to that page. Front page and national news is next. Comics are last.

Hedy said...

Rarely read a paper paper anymore (not
why you'd think, I really can't stand the ink on my hands.). Anyhow when I do, I read just like you.

Dave said...

First, thanks for stopping by Too. Next, I would have never thought Hedy. Finally, as to the rest of you, I never read the comics. I somehow got out of the habit years ago about the time that Doonesbury, Far Side and Bloom County quit running in them.

Posol'stvo the Medved said...

Maybe I should mention that I can't remember the last time I read a paper paper. I bought one about three years ago, but only because it had an aerial photo of a mob scene I was in on the front page (a rally for the Phillies after they (finally) made the playoffs -- the year before they won the series).

Dave said...

I remember you writing about that Pos. We are getting old.

The Curmudgeon said...

I read at least one paper in print just about every day. On weekdays it's the Sun-Times -- because I buy it to read on the train. I have the Tribune delivered and I read that on weekends (and, in theory, every other day, too, although my Youngest Son noticed that we have at least a week's worth piled up in the front hall). I read different things first in different papers. I hit the op-ed and the comics in the Trib first. In the S-T it would be Sneed, when she's writing, or maybe the sports or maybe the other columns. Except on Fridays. Then I read every movie review Roger Ebert writes before looking at anything else.

I read much of my news on line these days -- and a lot of my comics, too. By the time it appears in print, I've probably read it.

You shouldn't dis comments, Dave. My late father told me that reading the comics was the mark of an educated man. I believed him, of course.

I don't read the Sunday paper as much as I used to. Comics, certainly -- but, sometimes, on Sundays, I've had it with the news and we take a break from each other. (But even then, Thomas, I probably read "the crappy Parade magazine" -- at least the celeb Q&A at the front. Hey, we all have our guilty pleasures....)

Dave said...

Actually I have to amend my comics comment. I do read them; but, my sources are Thomas' blog and yours Curmudgeon. So if you want me to read more, publish away.