As a writer, or any artist for that matter, I grew up with dreams of making a career and marking it with accomplishments which would legitimize my choice. One of those dreams was to become a writer for a major newspaper. Recently I have had the opportunity to write some pieces for The Orange County Register, but I have since decided to put all my focus on the blog and my books. It has already proven to be a wise choice. My books are becoming a reality, while newspapers around the globe are falling like flies. It makes me sad. And a little guilty. Because the irony of the situation is that, it is blogs such as The Association which pull readers away from traditional Newspapers. And more importantly, so much information is available FOR FREE, one almost feels silly paying to receive a paper every morning on their door step full of information which you could have read about online the night before. Only thing Newspapers can focus on now is creating the strongest content possible. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening- I see Newspapers competing with bloggers and turning themselves into trashy, gossipy publications full of poorly written unsubstantiated content. And the bloggers aren’t winning either…we are now writing and entertaining America for FREE. (not bitter. I will take an audience anyway I can get one.) While pondering all this, I wondered who was really winning in this situation. Was anyone going to benefit? And all I could come up with…was The Trees. One phone call to The Association’s Staff Illustrator (okay, my talented MOM)…and this little jewel was doodled.
Change can be hard. But if we don’t laugh about it….it can be harder.
Now I gotta go get the TWO newspapers off my drive-way.
Yes, I am still a subscriber.
Some dreams things are hard to give up.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
whu-oh. your mom’s an illustrator??? ;)
what a wonderful tree! And yes, only trees will be pleased.
Nice illustration (love the texture!) for a poignant topic. Being in the Pacific Northwest, trees are a part of the family (though there are plenty of tree farms for making paper, too). We pay for the hyper-local small pub, but someday soon that will also be available on the web.
The trees are clapping here. We only have hard copies of the paper three days a week anymore. The rest of the week? Online only.
Nice illustration! Local television news took on a trashy tint a long time ago. I guess it’s no surprise newspapers would feel the need to do so also. According to former Fox 11 anchor, John Beard, that’s why he was fired — because he didn’t want to do the celebrity focused/trashy news.
With information so readily available to everyone regardless of their ability or desire to pay for a newspaper, it was bound to happen. I could say something else about this proving my point about journalism in this country but I’ll hold my tongue. :)