Friday, Jul. 11, 2008
John Spevak: New newspaper habits
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ReprintLast week, on Tuesday morning, my guess is that many readers of this column, based on years of habit, opened their front door and looked for their copy of the Los Baños Enterprise.
Some readers probably called the Enterprise and asked why they didn't get their paper.
Some readers, after a moment or two, remembered reading those notices which said that, starting in July, the Enterprise would be coming out once a week, on Friday. During the other days of the week, however, the paper's Web site would carry more articles and updates on the week's news.
Last week, on Friday morning, Enterprise readers looked forward to their paper more than they usually would. As promised, the paper was thicker and the format was more inviting. The sports pages, for example, are now in tabloid form, making it easier to read about the many different sporting events of the week.
It may have taken a little more time to find this column, since it was in a new section entitled In the City, but I'm sure dedicated readers found it. I liked this format, for it was easier for me to find my fellow columnist, Diana Ingram, in a prominent spot on the front page of the section.
I give credit to publisher Gene Lieb and editor Kim Yancey for going in this direction. It took some guts to make that decision, but I think it's a wise one. The Friday edition now has the feel of a larger newspaper, in which each different section has a distinctive feel.
In the new Friday format there are more possibilities to present more features and more opinion pieces, providing readers with different angles and perspectives on the week's news. There are more opportunities for photos and creative graphic displays as well.
There is a challenge, however, in this new approach: to encourage readers during the week to turn to the Enterprise on the Internet for updates on the news. An Internet Web site is more and more the news medium of the future, since new information can be posted quickly.
I have to confess that this will be a challenge for me. I appreciate the World Wide Web. I go to it often, to find driving directions, weather updates, road conditions, and sports scores. I also turn to it when I need to check facts or get the right spelling of a name or place.
But I do like the feel of a newspaper in my hands. It goes back to when I was about 8 years old and looked forward to getting the Chicago Daily News delivered to my family's front porch every afternoon. There was something magical in opening the pages wide and seeing what was displayed in words and pictures that day.
I was particularly attracted to the sports pages, even then. Learning to read the box score of a baseball game was like cracking the code of a spy ring. From each box score I was able to imaginatively reconstruct what happened during the game and determine who were the heroes and who were the goats. I could bring the sports section into my bedroom and create my own visualization of the game, even the crowd.
It takes more effort to check out the news via the Internet. Reading on a screen is not the same as reading a page I hold in my hand or set on my table. Psychologists would say I'm a "kinesthetic" reader, who likes to absorb information as much through my hands as with my eyes.
And yet I recognize the value of daily updates that an Internet site brings. There have been times, for example, when I have missed a wake or a rosary in Los Baños because it happened the day before the Enterprise was published that week. I just have to get into different habits, selecting a time each day when I go to my computer, click on my Enterprise bookmark, and take a glance at the news of the day. The Web site has been revised to be more user friendly, and Gene and Kim will be updating that site more often.
By doing so, I will be sharing an experience many of my readers have. As regular visitors to this space know, I receive many letters from readers in other states who keep up with the news in Los Baños electronically. I've received comments from folks in Illinois, New York, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, Idaho, even Alaska (note to Greg: I haven't received an Alaskan update in a while). By regularly checking the Enterprise online, I'll be in league with many of my friends around the country.
The new Enterprise format includes positive qualities of two venues I have grown to appreciate, a balance of printed and digital communication. I look forward to the dual newspaper experience.
On another, much more serious note, Los Baños lost a very good man last week in the passing of John Garcia.
John died in the prime of life. He was born in 1945, the year of my birth. He fought valiantly against a ruthless disease.
Grieving is more intense when such a good man dies so young. John, as his obituary in the Enterprise noted, was a kind and generous man, a devoted husband, an extraordinary father. He lived a life of wisdom and integrity. He didn't like to be in the spotlight, but he left such strong, positive impressions on those who knew him.
John was a man of faith, as is his whole family. His faith sustained him during his illness, and it is the faith of his family that sustains them in their loss, a faith which proclaims that the souls of the just are in the hands of a loving God, who prepares a place of light and love for them. I'm sure John is experiencing that light and love now.
(Comments on the writings of John Spevak, a regular Enterprise columnist, are encouraged and can be sent via email to spevak@telis.org.)