Comment by hirpslop

As part of a research project, I combed through archives of my local paper from the 70s and 80s. As a practice exercise, I highly recommend you log in to your local library and try exploring yours. I was stunned at the quality papers used to produce. It left me with a profound sense of loss and regret, but also hope that we can do better.

Even the most trivial seeming stories were treated with a care that seems lost to time.

The power of observation beats most content I encounter now. For instance, the coverage of a Lieutenant Governor’s election victory celebration after being snubbed by Gov. Reagan’s inaugural party. The clever politician persevered because he knew the way to people’s hearts: free steins of beer and brats. Thousands attended on a chilly winter night in a parking garage.

They even followed up to verify precisely how much beer and brats were consumed.

They were also funnier and better written that most journalistic writing see today. Local restaurant reviews had a sense of responsibility and respectful conduct, but didn’t shy away from levity when the food stank. Far from a mere aggregate of gripes of the crankiest customers or sycophantic pablum, it was a the product of someone who’d honed their craft—taking pains to represent what was there according to a professional ethic.

This amounts to a public record that’s a dependable source of historical truth in a way that a forum or social platform doesn’t approximate.

They may not be as good today, but $200 a year is arguably worth the democracy protecting function alone.