Does anyone actually buy a newspaper any more?
Discussion
I have, in my entire adult life, never bought a newspaper.... I'm the wrong side of 40 too.
Can't recall buying one as a child either. Parents bought the Saturday paper to get the TV guide, that was pretty much it and as soon as the Internet came along, no one needed a TV guide any more.
Used to regularly buy some magazines as a kid (Hyper, Nintendo Power) but haven't done that since I turned 15. The internet does the same thing these days.
Willing to get a lot of people my age have never bought a paper.
Can't recall buying one as a child either. Parents bought the Saturday paper to get the TV guide, that was pretty much it and as soon as the Internet came along, no one needed a TV guide any more.
Used to regularly buy some magazines as a kid (Hyper, Nintendo Power) but haven't done that since I turned 15. The internet does the same thing these days.
Willing to get a lot of people my age have never bought a paper.
paulw123 said:
Last week I bought one to get a voucher probably the first paper I have bought in over 10 years. When I worked for a landscape company we always used to buy the Sun every day for 30p to read ogle page 3 at lunchtime. Bad Good times.
I do my best to ignore the news so unlikely to ever buy one again
Fix'dI do my best to ignore the news so unlikely to ever buy one again
Ben Jk said:
I like to read one but never do actually buy one.
I do pick up the Metro at stations when I am there.
Same for me, I used to enjoy buying a quality newspaper and reading most of the articles, ideally outside in my garden with a glass of something..I do pick up the Metro at stations when I am there.
Same for magazines, I used to buy Car or Cycle World or Cycle, read cover to cover.
I read the Telegraph business pages daily and New York Times on line.
Pity really.
The past was a nice place
CooperD said:
I used to buy a newspaper every Saturday, mainly for the TV guide with it and the holiday supplement was usually quite informative. That was before the pandemic. I haven't bought one now for almost 3 years.
Out of habit I still buy the Express on a Saturday as I too used to get it for the TV guide which I don't even look at these days. However the reason I still buy it is because I like to do the crosswords etc on a Sunday morning when the rest of the Moroni's are still asleep. However, its now £2.10 which, in my opinion, is getting a bit on the expensive side.I also pick up the Metro & Standard when I use the Tube.
Having not bought a paper for at least a decade I was last year stuck at the parents house with nothing to do for a couple of hours....they have always had the observer and Sunday times (politically opposite parents) and the telegraph & ft on weekdays so there's always a plentiful "heap" next to the old man's snooze chair... So I set to....
Like many on here I was of the mindset of 'its all online' except...actually...it isn't...
To explain when you actually read the physical paper you're drawn to other news stories / articles that online you'd easily gloss over or dismiss...I ended up reading about 80% that I'd never do in the instant gratification world of online news...really enjoyed it too....so after too many years I've started having the observer delivered (it's much lighter than in days past)...so take an hour on a sunday morning to park myself with a huge coffee & toast and read the paper...OH swears I'm just getting old (true) but it's turned into one of life's small pleasures and I learn a lot more.....
Finish it during the week and the used ones are rather handy with a senile leaky cat about..
Like many on here I was of the mindset of 'its all online' except...actually...it isn't...
To explain when you actually read the physical paper you're drawn to other news stories / articles that online you'd easily gloss over or dismiss...I ended up reading about 80% that I'd never do in the instant gratification world of online news...really enjoyed it too....so after too many years I've started having the observer delivered (it's much lighter than in days past)...so take an hour on a sunday morning to park myself with a huge coffee & toast and read the paper...OH swears I'm just getting old (true) but it's turned into one of life's small pleasures and I learn a lot more.....
Finish it during the week and the used ones are rather handy with a senile leaky cat about..
Gone from 2 dailies on a weekday (Indy on the way into work & Evening Standard on the way home) plus Saturday Indy then times, Mail (sorry I’m a better person now, promise) & NOTW on a Sunday to now just Weekend FT (subscription) & Sunday Times.
Like to spend Monday evening reading them with the TV off.
Like to spend Monday evening reading them with the TV off.
I am 50, I don't think I have purchased a paper for over 20 years. I remember back in the day coming home from a Saturday night in London and buying the News of the world first edition at Waterloo station.
I haven't purchased a magazine for 15 years, in the 90s I would buy Loaded, FHM, Max Power and various random car magazines every month.
The Internet for me has meant printed media is extinct, I have no idea who buys magazines or papers anymore.
Even my father who used to go to the shops every day to buy a paper hadn't done this for years.
I haven't purchased a magazine for 15 years, in the 90s I would buy Loaded, FHM, Max Power and various random car magazines every month.
The Internet for me has meant printed media is extinct, I have no idea who buys magazines or papers anymore.
Even my father who used to go to the shops every day to buy a paper hadn't done this for years.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
I am 50, I don't think I have purchased a paper for over 20 years. I remember back in the day coming home from a Saturday night in London and buying the News of the world first edition at Waterloo station.
I haven't purchased a magazine for 15 years, in the 90s I would buy Loaded, FHM, Max Power and various random car magazines every month.
The Internet for me has meant printed media is extinct, I have no idea who buys magazines or papers anymore.
Even my father who used to go to the shops every day to buy a paper hadn't done this for years.
I'd completely forgotten about that - buying the New of the World and the Sunday Times at Leicester Square at the end of a night out!I haven't purchased a magazine for 15 years, in the 90s I would buy Loaded, FHM, Max Power and various random car magazines every month.
The Internet for me has meant printed media is extinct, I have no idea who buys magazines or papers anymore.
Even my father who used to go to the shops every day to buy a paper hadn't done this for years.
The 90s were a "golden age" for magazines especially the ones you mention - Loaded and FHM. Also Q, Time Out, NME and Sounds as there was so much going in music back then. Such an exciting time looking back...
I can't remember the last time I bought a paper and used to get the Times or Telegraph daily. My dad still gets the Daily Mail on a Saturday for the TV guide and I can see how a weekend paper is a good buy if you're retired and have time on your hands.
Re magazines - I have subscribed to The Week for years and like how it boils the week's news down to a couple of pages that can be read in a couple of hours. Although it's available on PressReader I have kept my subscription as it is just nice to have the physical magazine to leaf through.
iphonedyou said:
FT Weekend every weekend in life. Times during the week if I can.
So yes, definitely! I'm 37 for what that's worth. Online lacks tactility.
Same!So yes, definitely! I'm 37 for what that's worth. Online lacks tactility.
I'm 'only' 40, and yet I always buy FT Weekend as I find it excellent, and occasionally The Times during the week, but not as often as I would like.
I also like to grab the free London papers when I see them, as a quick, easy, daily read: Evening Standard, City AM, and City Matters.
I just love the feel and experience of an actual newspaper. I treat it as a luxury, in a world of endless scrolling of news on my phone. There is just something really nice about sitting with a cup of coffee and a newspaper.
Not sure it counts as a newspaper per se, but I have a subscription to Private Eye which I enjoy reading religiously.
p1doc said:
nicanary said:
Sunday morning with a broadsheet and endless coffee - best time of the week.
same for me with coffee replaced by cigar-definitely best time of week especially now sunnyI remember when the Evening Standard had multiple editions through the afternoon/evening (I think one was called City Prices - must have had urgent financial information for bankers/brokers, I suppose) - and there was a Stop Press column printed sideways across the bottom of one page with latest news, I think. Now there's just one edition with no updates, I believe.
I've rarely ever bought a newspaper but when I was young I used to skim through my parents' Daily Mail (they still buy it every day) and now for many years I've looked through The Guardian online most days. When I was commuting, I used to pick up the Standard but eventually got more interested in the crossword than the news pages.
The other aspect is local papers, which have really died. In the 80s/90s, there were I think four local papers covering my home area. One of the publishers had both a free midweek paper and one you had to buy on Friday, and some of the bought ones were broadsheets. I worked at a local paper for a while, and they would still do things like sending reporters to every council committee meeting and having someone in the magistrates' court to cover any random cases that came up. Now most of those papers have closed down or merged so that we only get one freesheet around here, and it's published from an office miles away with not much local content.
I've rarely ever bought a newspaper but when I was young I used to skim through my parents' Daily Mail (they still buy it every day) and now for many years I've looked through The Guardian online most days. When I was commuting, I used to pick up the Standard but eventually got more interested in the crossword than the news pages.
The other aspect is local papers, which have really died. In the 80s/90s, there were I think four local papers covering my home area. One of the publishers had both a free midweek paper and one you had to buy on Friday, and some of the bought ones were broadsheets. I worked at a local paper for a while, and they would still do things like sending reporters to every council committee meeting and having someone in the magistrates' court to cover any random cases that came up. Now most of those papers have closed down or merged so that we only get one freesheet around here, and it's published from an office miles away with not much local content.
Granadier said:
The other aspect is local papers, which have really died.
Local papers have become an embarrassment in most places. They have been merged/sold/merged/downsized, until there is practically nothing left. These days, it is often just a couple of downtrodden reporters covering an entire County, and the same content is simply regurgitated and duplicated over several different local titles. Much of their news is simply bought in from national agency press, and pasted into their own work.They seem more interested in chasing clicks and views on social media, but their posted articles are often widely mocked in the comments for being badly written and littered with grammatical and spelling mistakes.
Some titles seem trapped between offering content for free, and keeping the views coming, or charging a few quid a month for a subscription, which doesn't seem to work either.
Tim-D said:
Like many on here I was of the mindset of 'its all online' except...actually...it isn't...
To explain when you actually read the physical paper you're drawn to other news stories / articles that online you'd easily gloss over or dismiss...I ended up reading about 80% that I'd never do in the instant gratification world of online news...really enjoyed it too....so after too many years I've started having the observer delivered (it's much lighter than in days past)...so take an hour on a sunday morning to park myself with a huge coffee & toast and read the paper...OH swears I'm just getting old (true) but it's turned into one of life's small pleasures and I learn a lot more.....
Finish it during the week and the used ones are rather handy with a senile leaky cat about..
Totally agree with this. Apart from the Observer bit of courseTo explain when you actually read the physical paper you're drawn to other news stories / articles that online you'd easily gloss over or dismiss...I ended up reading about 80% that I'd never do in the instant gratification world of online news...really enjoyed it too....so after too many years I've started having the observer delivered (it's much lighter than in days past)...so take an hour on a sunday morning to park myself with a huge coffee & toast and read the paper...OH swears I'm just getting old (true) but it's turned into one of life's small pleasures and I learn a lot more.....
Finish it during the week and the used ones are rather handy with a senile leaky cat about..
Harry H said:
Tim-D said:
Like many on here I was of the mindset of 'its all online' except...actually...it isn't...
To explain when you actually read the physical paper you're drawn to other news stories / articles that online you'd easily gloss over or dismiss...I ended up reading about 80% that I'd never do in the instant gratification world of online news...really enjoyed it too....so after too many years I've started having the observer delivered (it's much lighter than in days past)...so take an hour on a sunday morning to park myself with a huge coffee & toast and read the paper...OH swears I'm just getting old (true) but it's turned into one of life's small pleasures and I learn a lot more.....
Finish it during the week and the used ones are rather handy with a senile leaky cat about..
Totally agree with this. Apart from the Observer bit of courseTo explain when you actually read the physical paper you're drawn to other news stories / articles that online you'd easily gloss over or dismiss...I ended up reading about 80% that I'd never do in the instant gratification world of online news...really enjoyed it too....so after too many years I've started having the observer delivered (it's much lighter than in days past)...so take an hour on a sunday morning to park myself with a huge coffee & toast and read the paper...OH swears I'm just getting old (true) but it's turned into one of life's small pleasures and I learn a lot more.....
Finish it during the week and the used ones are rather handy with a senile leaky cat about..
If anything it's the opposite. Print tends le leave out details or the information becomes quite quickly out of date as stories develop, what the papers wrote yesterday often ends up completly wrong due to the new information that became available overnight.
And let's not even start on the number of papers who deliberately conflate news with opinion... Al a Murdoch's empire, which fortunately is crumbling.
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