on the death of print journalism

The Chicago Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Dec. 9. One of America's great newspapers is suddenly facing the very real possibility that it will no longer exist. It seems to be one more nail in the coffin of an industry that I would argue is much more important than even the automakers.

When I was growing up in Upstate New York, my family subscribed to six newspapers, five of which delivered Sunday editions. We got each paper for different reasons: 

• The Schenectady Gazette and the Saratoga Springs Saratogian gave us different perspectives on local news. My father was involved in local and New York State politics, so he wanted to keep track of local goings on.
  
• The Albany Times-Union gave us regional news. Plus, my father really liked a couple of the columnists.
• The New York Times for national and international news. Plus, my family made frequent forays to New York City, so my parents liked to know what was going on there. 
• The New York Daily News. My father was a huge baseball fan and he liked the Daily News' baseball coverage, especially columnist Dick Young.

On any weekday morning, the newspaper stack on our back stoop (porch) was probably six inches high. On a Sunday, it might have been two feet high. That's where we got our information. Yes, we watched television news, but if we wanted to really know what was going on, we read the paper.

I think handling all that newsprint made me decide to become a journalist. It was more than a career for me - it was vocation. As a colleague used to say about being a reporter: "the hours are long, but the pay sucks."