Got a message on Sunday from Jane Lewis. It was great … and not so great.
The bad news first: She was writing in because of ongoing problems with the changes in our website, www.thetimesnews.com. To wit: Every so often the site goes down. Also, our mobile apps aren’t working as yet and tons of other features aren’t available. Archives from our former site? Still missing.
It’s been a struggle, this so-called “web migration,” mandated because we’re moving things from computer servers of our former owner and onto those of our new one. Ms. Lewis had this observation:
“The advantage the print edition has over the online one is that the server never goes down. i have known the paper to be delivered late because of technical or weather problems but it has always been delivered. Yesterday i wanted to comment on the story of the lady’s body being found in Virginia — but — server down. i see it is still down. i do not have a computer at home – use the library’s every day — and so i very seldom go to the online edition. Viva the print edition.”
Bad news aside, her words brought a smile to my face on Sunday. Like many of our customers, I still love the printed newspaper – the feel of it, the design of it, how the photos are presented — everything. It remains my favorite way to read news, especially longer stories about weighty subjects or human interest features.
I fear that those kinds of things will fall by the wayside as print newspapers thin down or vanish altogether. There are fewer legitimate reporters in the field than ever — lots of fakers, though. It’s becoming hard to distinguish the two for untrained observers.
The Doonesbury comic from Sunday says a lot. A friend said journalists all over the country probably posted it on their closest available bulletin board — or fridge.
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