I ’m a newspaper guy; there’s just something I love about the printed word. Growing up in New Jersey, I preferred reading local newspapers such as the Asbury Park Press to national publications such as the New York Times. It was easy to take for granted living in a metropolitan area. There was no shortage of newsstands or newspapers I could buy that would anywhere between 25 cents to a dollar.
Buzzfeed and Vice are the latest news platforms that have failed. It’s no secret that the printed word isn’t going through a recession but is in danger of becoming irrelevant and obsolete. There are many reasons for the decline of news. All the nationally syndicated newspapers sound the alarm about the same things: inequality, Ukraine, climate change and COVID-19. Furthermore, independent and conservative voices have been shut out from mainstream conversations and forced into the dark web. They’ve alienated the very audience they supposedly support.
The beauty of writing today is that if you’re frustrated trying to be published you can start a blog or learn how to create your own platform and not worry about having to write fluff pieces about Joe Biden or tip-toe around your thoughts about race. I learned how to creatively talk about elections, vaccines and climate change without being censored.
The minute influential people say this topic is off-limits, you should post articles about the subject. People should question vaccines. It is fair for people to ask whether the Jan. 6 protestors are getting due process and fair hearings. The first amendment guarantees the Klan’s right to say things you disagree with. Free speech means being able to air controversial opinions about topics such as abortion, science and climate change. If you’re someone with an unpopular perspective and the mob tries to silence you, double down. Never back down from speaking the truth.
Doesn’t a good writer question existing policies that benefit a few while leaving the masses in serfdom? I want to know why I need permission to write about taboo topics such as race. My life, liberty and safety hinge on the demographics of my community. I don’t think people should get favorable treatment because of history.
If I was to start a newspaper business, I would find different takes on hot-topic issues such as gun control and abortion. I would elevate the conversation beyond the standard arguments between Democrats and Republicans.
I believe the reason street newspapers continue to thrive is because the vendors and writers must interact with the community. I sell to businessmen, academics, LGBTQ+ people and to people who support abortion, people with conservative viewpoints and Trump supporters.
I sell my articles. I do not beg for money. There’s no price someone can pay me to stand for what’s right. If two plus two is four, I have no time arguing or debating someone trying to convince me it’s 100. Being a freelance writer is a business, and my success is understanding that where I’m published gives me a platform. But I also have to deal with publishers and editors that try to edit truths for their own agendas.
I’m an optimist; I believe there will always be a place for the printed word. I know many are worried about artificial intelligence. Still, many old-school people like reading the Bible from a book or buying newspapers from stands, not subscribing online.
The issue isn’t print but content; social justice writing is depressing, hopeless and despairing, or it’s about revolutionary violence.
I’m happy and don’t see the government or racism holding me down. In the end, I appreciate printed papers giving me aplatform but see the writing on the wall that the money-making days are over, so to be relevant, I suggest selling overcoming. Still, I learned, don’t waste your time giving pearls to the sows, for they’ll only throw what you know in the mud. Ultimately, the game’s name is not to be printed but to have what you printed to read, cherish and immortalize.
