I suppose it was inevitable in a way and yet it seems sad in a strange unexplainable way. After thirty one years I've kicked the habit. Having moved from the Daily Mirror via The Times to The Independent I've decided to stop buying a daily newspaper. This doesn't mean that I'm removing myself from the news loop completely but the actual cost of buying The Independent has risen to £1 a day plus £1.80 on a Saturday and although I'm not down to my last tenner I've decided that paying out more than £30 a month for something I can look at for free online is a bit of a no brainer.
Like all bad habits though it's something I can't give up on completely, I still buy The Times on Monday for The Game and the Independent on Friday for the music and books and cinema reviews and two papers at the weekend - but it's still a withdrawal of sorts. Of course looking at the papers online is a bit like listening to music online or on your computer, there isn't the human contact element. I've no idea how long this break will last, I bookmarked a site many years ago here which I have been using since I started writing these random thoughts more than five years ago. It links to all the major UK papers and those bigger regional ones and other publications across the world.
2 comments:
Great link Paul,
I'd love to buy a daily paper and read more than one. If I went on holiday to Bournemouth by the time we reached Kings X Train station I would take all the papers that passengers left behind and read them at my hotel or on the next trainto Bournemouth.
But like you...it's money I have to consider directing elsewhere and unless I have them delivered, I would have to think of using a taxi to get to the newsagent which just adds to the bill.
And with my eyesight being not what it was...I get my news mainly on the net, or from the radio and tv.
But hey depending on the title many are now nothing more than spin on stories about Government matters or so called celebs.
There are still some good papers out there...
As there are magazines but again they soon become an expensive luxury and I am reluctant to throw out old editions as I can usually find something of interest to read again, I have all or just about every edition of Websuser(Good job it only comes out fortnightly)but that's still approx 200 issues since it launched.
I agree about magazines Gildy but I have to have a cull every so often otherwise it gets out of hand. Fortunately I've chosen subscriptions as presents from some people and that keeps my costs down! I got rid of all my gardening magazines apart from one years worth - working on the theory that what goes around comes around!
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