How About a Newspaper Subscription for Christmas?

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree

My access to news narrowed dramatically when I was 10 years old.

My mother’s boss passed away, so I no longer got to peruse his morning paper.

And, despite my protestations about prying the funnies from my cold, ink-stained fingers, family budget cuts meant my father could no longer splurge on the evening paper.

I still had the local gossip grapevine, radio newscasts and TV anchor David Brinkley. But cutting back to just the Sunday edition of print journalism left a vexing information void during the Nixon/Apollo/counterculture era.

And, oh, the taunting from the family dog! (“Look what I did on the carpet! Good luck rolling up that console TV!”)

By the fact that you’re encountering this column, I know I’m preaching to the choir. But I feel compelled to double down on reminding you that a newspaper subscription makes a thoughtful Christmas gift.

Perhaps there are shut-ins on your friends list who have begrudgingly dropped their newspaper because of the proverbial “fixed income.” You could reopen their window on the world. (They could then yell out the window the more nuanced “You kids get off my lawn – or I’ll have to call the landscaper who advertised in the classifieds!”)

On the other end of the age scale, there’s no need to talk down to teens and preteens. A newspaper will help them prepare for their civics class, learn more about the town’s entertainment venues and discover how people other than social media influencers live. Give them the gift of knowledge. (Granted, you don’t have to share the knowledge that you almost blew a bundle on naming a fragment of space junk after them.)

A newspaper can be a college student’s comforting tether to their old stomping grounds. It can be a way for a newlywed couple to put down roots and become a contributing part of the community.

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