Hard copy

The Wall Street Journal had an excellent three part series ( part 3 here) for the last three days on the sale of Bear Stearns. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in intrigue, drama and money. Many of my women friends, or my liberal friends, refuse to read this paper. I honestly have no idea why.
If you are women, why does that mean this newspaper should intimidate you? Honestly, it is really all gossip. Good gossip about families and finance. There are such fabulous stories of family intrigue, of vice and virtue, and of just plain silliness.
And as for the liberals...first of all....GET OVER IT! I actually wish I had a dollar for every time a "liberal" person tells me "oh I would never read the Journal--it is too conservative". So not true. While the editorials certain are, the rest of the paper is mostly good solid reporting. Also if you circle to adjectives on the front page or hard news items of the NY Times and the WSJ, you can see how the editorial page has really bled all over the rest of the "Great Gray Lady".
But really, would you be better informed or be able to even argue against a position if you know what it is? So, if I have to read the NY Slimes and every other outlet with an axe to grind, well you should read everything too. And you should learn to get your own opinion. Half the time my entire town is merely quoting the op-ed pieces. Maybe they could learn to read both sides and be less sheep-like.
And as long as I am at it, why is the endless loop of sound bite better than hard copy? We have made all of the news and important events a lot less understood or "important" through the tv or sound bite electronic media. When there is more time there is more real REPORTING and INVESTIGATION, and there is real insight into things like the fall of Bear Stearns. Or world events. Or presidential elections and all the issues surrounding them.
And aside from the above, isn't it nicer to have the feel of the Wall Street Journal, or your paper of choice, between you hands? The smell of it, the feel of it. Hey, I almost don't mind the ink of it. Except in summer on my white pants. Unfortunately, they ruined the ability to fold it exactly in half lengthwise and read all of the columns on the train. (A trick my Dad taught me...passed down father to daughter). This was their "improvement". Oh well.
The quick hit is really soft --better to also read the hard copy.