JULY 18 2024 - MEDIA

 THURSDAY, JULY 17,202 PRINT MEDIA??? 

I am feeling sorrow for the magazine industry. About the only magazines I get are the ones that come from membership in AARP!! <grin>

I’ve been in doctors' offices frequently in the past few years, and that pile of magazines is gone.  

Only some offices had the same magazines- maybe a news magazine (Time, U.S. News and World Report, and others). There might be culture (U.S. Weekly, Rolling Stone), women’s periodicals, and men’s periodicals (golf /sports). 

I remember my dentist’s office as a kid with Highlights for Children (and the other magazines for adults).

But, the world changed - quickly.

At the dental clinic two weeks ago, “everybody” was on their phone (I assume they were playing games). They also had a television on the wall far enough in the waiting room playing Antenna Television - with reruns of Father Knows Best, Hazel, and other shows from the 50s and 60s.  

The car-serving location had magazines—Chevy Magazine and other car magazines ( I wonder if it was a selected list showing Chevies are the best). But nobody was looking at magazines; they all had their phones in front of them.

Where would we be without the ubiquitous phone? (Maybe talking with people!!!)

I’m writing part of this at a medical office. I drove my friend Bonnie to her appointment, and everyone (except one) was on their phones. The one who wasn’t on her phone seems to be a new patient who is filling out paperwork on a clipboard!

It was an easy solution (and cheap). Cut the magazines out—save a couple of hundred dollars on subscriptions. Antenna Television comes in an “antenna box” on the wall—buy the box and let it be. (I know because I have no cable (and actually, no watching television).  

*****

Newspapers are trying to generate some online revenue. The Austin Statesman newspaper is $1 for six months' access. (I did that for a couple of years and didn’t look at it much. ) I can get the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal (and others) for just a few dollars a month.  

I miss the morning newspaper - but I don’t miss it enough to subscribe to the online version.  

To be honest, I’m a bit of a hermit. I don’t read a newspaper, I don’t watch television. I don’t get magazines. Any honest news I get is from online sources. (and I generally don’t look those over much).

I did Google the shooting of Donald Trump. They haven’t been back for the backwash - was he a hero? Will this cause politicians to put stronger bans on assault weapons?  

I have people on both sides of the politician spectrum sharing their thoughts and ideas online. I have over three months before the election. (Yes, my mind is made up - as a transgender woman, it seems like one side likes me and one side doesn’t).  

I hope the existing media makes some money between now and the election, and I’m guessing they will. Probably, all the available political ad times in October have already been reserved and taken.

*****

Maybe I’m being a curmudgeon - but I’m getting tired of politicals (already). Of course, we’ve been to the primary and now the political conventions. By Labor Day, the parties and candidates will run at full speed.

Politicians need to get their messages out - and that can be hard. In my local U.S. Congress Race - the incumbent has been in office for years. He is just coasting. I will get mailed flyers, but there will be no television or radio time. I don't subscript to the local (Georgetown, Texas) newspaper - but that will have ads. I get a local magazine once a month. I get a Community News once a month.

Enjoy the little bit of relief—and unplug your television and cancel your newspapers—until after the election.  

(Oops - that won’t work - I’ll miss out on football games!!!)

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White