At what point does it begin to impact.

There used to be a standard  joke in the Newspaper Industry which laughed at the letter to the editor which ended,  and I am cancelling my subscription.

The letter writer was usually someone incensed at the position take by the newspaper editorial page and in the state of high dudgeon ripped off a quick note to the editor.  The Editorial staff would always include the part about "And cancel My Subscription"  as an offhand slap at the reader who would take umbrage.  As if to say, Oh look at this guy, mad enough to cancel, but we don't care.

The shoe would  appear to be on the other foot as legions of readers have cancelled their delivery.  What go me to thinking about this was an incident of yesterday.  I went into the local store to buy my opportunity to win the 450 million dollar Mega Game Jackpot, which as might be gathered, I did not win.  While there I looked down on the Newspaper rack and spotted a story about a 600 year old Oak tree that is dying.

That Oak is one that I had visited some years back as a place of local interest. George Washington dined beneath its limbs, Several of his soldiers are buried there. Soldiers of the revolution who wintered at Jockey Hollow must have passed by.  Rochembeau  marched his army past on the way to the siege and victory at Yorktown.  I wanted to stand beneath those broad limbs and take in the spirit of the founding of the nation and the freedom attached to it.

TREE,BIG AND OLD

And after reading about the tree and thinking that I might go again to find some of its acorns to plant elsewhere, I got to reading the rest of the paper.  I read one editorial or column after another and each became more and more absurd.  Several dealt with the Hillary Clinton /FBI  circus.  But somewhere in reading the absurdity of a Tom Moran commentary I was left with the idea that there will be letters cancelling subscriptions.

This got me to wondering if Editors ever thought about the idea that their very own editorial policy , being so far away from the ideas of their readers, was the cause of the demise of newspapers in general.  They I am sure would blame the digital revolution, but of that I am certain they are wrong. For one only need to point to CNN and MSNBC , for those broadcast  outlets with their leftist leanings are similarly rejected by the audience.  So far away from main stream as to be rejected..  They laughed at the dolt who would cancel his subscription, all the while their sanctimonious attitude was undermining their job. The phrase is Hoisted by one's own petard and it is such poetic justice that  it amuses and gladdens those who observe it.  You are getting what you deserve, reaping what you have sown.  Your editorial pomposity is your comeuppance.

I have always enjoyed the newspaper, I grew up in a household where there never was a day where the paper did not arrive.  My grandfather , mother's side was a printer for the newspaper and he inculcated his children in the lore of the press .  There was a time when the Newspaper was important, but that has shifted as the newspaper deemed itself more important than the readership.
The readership recognized that insult and has divorced itself from the abusive relationship.

The Star Ledger is not my paper of choice or locale, mine is The Record.  But this morning, as I read The Record, I was struck by the absurd content of their storyline as it pertained to Ms. Clinton and her faux pas.  So lousy was it writing and so bad was its slant that I found myself thinking that it is time to cancel my subscription with a pointed letter to the editor.

I find myself, the lover of the newspaper, to be less concerned about the health of the paper as I see them less concerned about the reader and see them to be so far out of touch.  They can push their agenda to those who remain, doubtful that is me.  They have cast themselves as enemies of the people and have joined forces with those who would exercise dominion through mutated political power.

I am not subscribing to that.  The Newspapers will all be dead before the tree.