Ode to the Washington Post ...

This week, a friend asked me about my favorite part of the weekend. I answered honestly: Reading the newspaper. (Nerd alert, in case you missed that in the previous 100 posts on this blog.) Some people like to party. I like to read newspapers in my pajamas. This explains too much about me.

I read newspapers every day, in print (thank you, Washington Post, for the free Express I read on the Metro, and for the free full edition I pick up every Tuesday at school) and online, but on Saturdays and Sundays I get the Washington Post delivered right to my door. Where I can spread it out on the table (sorry, C.) and read it leisurely along with every meal.

It has been a bad year for newspapers. Every time I hear about another newspaper ending its print edition and publishing only online, I feel depressed. Now I realize I am biased about the subject, graduating in print journalism, interning at a newspaper and paying for a trip to Europe in part with an early-morning newspaper route. But I still think our society would be better if every home subscribed to a newspaper, and every child had access to one growing up. Not because we should believe everything we read in a newspaper (although it comes much closer to the truth than the infotainment currently masquerading as television news) but because it makes us actually think about our world. And by our world, I mean our very own communities. Because sorry folks, but unless you live somewhere very big or somewhere beset by something very bad, CNN will not be covering your neighborhood, your state legislature, or the local school board meeting. Your local television station might. But if they do, they will devote an entire 30 seconds to it before switching to a five-minute investigation about the perils of pedicures.

I loved Sunday mornings at home, drinking orange juice with my parents, each of us reading a section of the newspaper and then trading. Dad started with sports or travel, I chose the front page, and Mom usually ended up with the metro section. When one of us (OK, when Mom or I) read something of particular interest, we shared it (and then inevitably I would try to read the interesting article over her shoulder until she got annoyed enough to switch sections with me). Somehow, I cannot envision such a lovely scene taking place over a laptop or even an iPhone.

Obviously, I would spill the orange juice on the keyboard and ruin the whole thing. But I would also miss the smell of the newsprint, and happening upon article gems scattered throughout the pages when I am looking for the ending of another article or just perusing the pages. Articles like this one, which I found today in the print version of the Post and am linking here for your reading pleasure. Hypocritical given my current argument, yes, but I am not saying I am opposed to online news, just that I like real newspapers much better ... so much better ... and we still need them around ...

P.S. I should also mention my love for the Washington Post Magazine. It has some delightful features perfect for Saturday morning breakfast reading. My personal favorite: DateLab, where the magazine sets people up on blind dates. (Given my vast amount of experience with such dates, of course I like to read about others faced with such woes.) This week, the magazine also provided me with some career advice if the whole lawyer thing does not work out. Just click here to find out ... (even better, I think I saw this belly dancer in action last year, on a pseudo-set-up date, of course) ...