Thoughts from an active pensioner who is now somewhat past his Biblical "Use-by date"

"Why just be difficult, when with a little more effort you can be bloody impossible?"



Sunday 7 February 2010

Is it worth buying a daily newspaper?

Ever since I started work, I have bought a daily newspaper. When I first went to work, I bought the Daily Express, which was somewhat different in those days than it is now. It cost me 1d (approx 0.4p). As I obtained more qualifications I changed to the Daily Telegraph, mainly because it had most of the job advertisements for my chosen profession. This cost 1½d (approx 0.6p).
Although I tried other papers at various periods in my life, since I retired I have continued to read the Telegraph, and of recent years have paid for it annually.
Now I am beginning to find that there is less of interest to me in the daily newspapers. Much news seems to consist of Big Brother, sex scandals, sport, and what I regard as trivia. Rarely is there much more detail than on the television or radio news, the only advantage being that I can skip the parts in which I have no interest. If I want any detailed foreign news, it is far better to read other countries' newspapers on the web. Indeed, when I first went to America, I found their newspapers and news rather strange; rarely did anything outside the particular state get a mention. Regrettably this now seems to be the same with the British media. Look for news about Australia, New Zealand or even Canada, and the chance of finding any is minimal. The same applies to Europe; rarely is there news about anything other than the EU, the only exception being Presidents/Prime Ministers and their wives and girl friends.
So should I pay for another year's subscription? I don't really want both a Saturday and a Sunday newspaper, the news is usually unchanged and the supplements almost identical. Frequently most of the supplements go straight into the bin without being read, I just don't have the time. But that would only save me £1.90, which still means that even if I went without a paper on another day, it would still cost me 20p more than a subscription!
On the plus side is the fact that I invariably walk to the newsagent to pick up my paper, as having paid for it, I am determined not to waste the money! I suspect without this incentive I'd probably be sitting in front of this computer reading blogs and getting absolutely no exercise!
Decisions, decisions, decisions! No escape, even when you retire!

Incidentally, when I first started to buy my newspaper, as I said it cost 1d. Postage at that time cost 2½d, two and a half times the cost of my daily paper. Now I'm no great supporter of Royal Mail, but however you look at it, their prices are now considerably less than my daily newspaper!

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