In the past, historic front-page moments have made certain newspapers collector’s items. With newspapers and their influence on the downslide, will historic moments in print still have the same cachet for collectors? Will people still say “I have the newspaper from the day…” ?
Laurel Fan
on 05 Nov 08I have the screenshot from the day…?
Harold
on 05 Nov 08Yeah, I think there’s a shift to the screenshot from the day as well.
Mike Riley
on 05 Nov 08I think you hit the nose on the head without even knowing it.
“cache”
I think services like waybackmachine will become the new “saved newspapers” from the days of historical events, but I think you also propose something interesting: Will there be a rise in the creation and marketing of commemorative memorabilia, trinkets and such, that comes out to meet the deficit in newspaper distribution?
JD
on 05 Nov 08I get the Chicago Tribune at home and I just bought the Sun Times. I guess I am old school still. :P
Dave B
on 05 Nov 08Ignorance was on display at the Wawa gas station in my small Pennsylvania town this morning… the lady was outraged that Obama’s victory was not on the cover of our community newspaper that is published weekly. I suppose today is as good of a day a any to start reading the paper.
Morgan
on 05 Nov 08Greetings, I have three different newspapers from September 12th. I will be picking one or two up today.
I know few people as digitally obsessed as I am, but…yes, at watershed moments I have this feeling of urgency to preserve something physical of the day.
— Morgan
Ryan
on 05 Nov 08I kind of hope people still say ”...the newspaper from the day…” – there’s something about the originality of it that I like, and would hate to see it become obsolete.
That wrinkled look, torn edges, and if you’re lucky, faded, yellow-ish tint. It’s an old aesthetic that you can frame. You simply don’t get that with a screen shot, in my opinion.
John
on 05 Nov 08Having bought maybe 25 issues of the NYTimes in the past 10 years that I’ve been on the net but being a daily Times junkie since the early 1960’s, I thought to get one this morning. The local paper store was bare when I looked at 10:15 am. That goes for the Times, the NYPost, the NY Daily News, the Boston Globe et al.
Anthony
on 05 Nov 08Won’t the scarcity of printed front-pages make them more sought after? Think of vinyl.
Tyler Karaszewski
on 05 Nov 08Do people actually do that? I don’t think anyone’s ever said, “I have the newspaper from the day…” to me, and I’ve certainly never had anyone dig into their closet to pull out their copy of the New York Times from the day Kennedy was assassinated, or the day the Challenger exploded and show me. Maybe someone does this, but if it’s one person in five hundred, then, meh, does it matter?
Peter Harkins
on 05 Nov 08I work at the Washington Post. The paper is sold out everywhere and we’ve received thousands of calls from people asking where to find copies. For a time, our main printing plant was out of paper. We’ve designed and are printing a special commemorative edition that should be available throughout the DC region in the next hour or two.
So, yes, people will say “I still have the newspaper” about today at least. Personally, I’m keeping a copy of the PDF proofs.
jan korbel
on 05 Nov 08I do not think newspapers are going that kind od away anytime soon. And as they become a sort of “precious” item as in: “Look ma, he has real newspapers!” the so called effect of “I have the newspaper from that day” will be that much more desirable.
Electronic copy is just no way the same: If you can find it with google search it’s not collectable.
Allie Beck
on 05 Nov 08I don’t know. I’ve given this much thought, and generally speaking, I’m mostly ambivalent about it.
Bob Monsour
on 05 Nov 08I have the newspaper from the day we landed on the moon and I still think it matters. I will be keeping today’s NY Times and Wall Street Journal. History matters and real artifacts, especially when uncovered by our children or grandchildren will matter even more to them.
Doug
on 05 Nov 08Here’s a potential best-of-both worlds. Newseum.org has thumb-nails and big pdfs of 710 newspaper front pages from 66 countries. Very cool (but a bit slow today…).
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/
Faith
on 05 Nov 08I and many others took our camera phones out to get pics of the tv screen on CNN.
MikeW
on 05 Nov 08I would guess there will always be a niche for print publications, and I think this is one of the reasons. Though I do most reading/studying/working on the computer, I still personally prefer looking at hard copies. I think there are many others like me.
The decline of the print industry shows that the stakes are only getting higher for those who can get it right. This is one of the days they would have huge payoffs.
Bruno
on 05 Nov 08My take is that physical, not copy-and-pastable things will always beat digital stuff when it comes to sentimental value.
It’s the uniqueness of that object that makes it so interesting, and the lack of uniqueness of objects is actually the nature of the web.
—
This entry doesn’t show any content in my feed reader, only the title.
Is this on purpose, so we need to click through to get to the content or some bug in your software that ought to be checked?
Erik W
on 05 Nov 08Khoi Vinh, the design director for nytimes.com wrote a post about how “Print’s Not Dead”, and there is a line in front of the New York Times of people who want a copy of today’s paper: http://www.subtraction.com/2008/11/05/prints-not-dead
GeeIWonder
on 05 Nov 08What is this obsession with souvenirs?
To me, the important thing to cling too are the intangibles. When I go to Venice, I’m more interested in what I can learn and how it makes me feel/see the world than in picking up a gondolier’s hat or a Michelin guide.
Mementos are fine, but not when they take away from what’s really important.
Bruno Bergher
on 05 Nov 08Something I just realized on this on-line vs print news media: I live in Brazil and, as many people around the world, regardless of not living in the US, I was mostly interested in the outcome of yesterday’s election.
This morning, I opened my laptop and saw the results I could celebrate. But because of the time difference, when I went to the street and checked the newsstands, most papers were showed not conclusive headlines, because the issues had to be printed before more definitive results were out.
So we actually did not have Obama front pages here today. And that’s just another way how on-line beats print big time, even if it can’t become a souvenir.
exocubic
on 05 Nov 08I think the word is “cachet”.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cachet
Not usually a word nazi, just piqued my curiosity.
Phil Scott
on 05 Nov 08Khoi Vinh’s blog has a picture of people queuing up in front of the New York Times building looking to buy a copy of the Times. Finding even a copy of the Courier Journal here in Louisville is tough… http://www.subtraction.com/2008/11/05/prints-not-dead
I don’t know if it’s of a monetary value to these people, but for many being able to hold it in their hands like that makes it real.
GeeIWonder
on 05 Nov 08Don’t worry Phil.
Landfills are full of newspapers from every day over the last 100 years or so and every event stacked neatly on top of each other in pristine condition. You can find whatever’ll tickle your fancy there.
Chris
on 05 Nov 08My hometown paper puts a nice, resolution-independent PDF of the front page on its web site every day, so I downloaded that.
But reading this thread I had a thought that I shouldn’t drag a PDF into Antiques Roadshow and expect it to be worth $500.
Jeff L
on 05 Nov 08I certainly bought the newspaper the day after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.
Daniel
on 05 Nov 08Collectibles, of any sort, are always about emotion. The information contained on an old front page is largely irrelevant compared to the memories it might bring.
Just look at how people accept digital photography. It’s the same arguments you’ll find: It’s easier, it can be shared, etc.. But there’s no big photo album with faded old photos and grandma’s curly handwriting on the back. Yet people still find digital photos emotional.
So the question is not so much how to save a newspaper’s front page when it’s not necessarily physical, but it’s whether people will find an emotional connection to its saved state, whatever that might be. And again, judging by the use of digital photography, then yes, non-physical keepsakes can be emotional, but may not be collector’s items (if the point of the collection is just to collect, and not recollect.)
But also note, that real, physical photographs are in some cases held in even higher regard, and bring back more memories. For that reason, I believe things like newpaper clippings of great events will continue to be collector’s items. Probably more so, as they become more scarce. But for the personal collector who values the associations over the object, digital is fine too.
Ian
on 05 Nov 08The value comes when everyone else throws their copy away (or uses it to wrap up holiday knick-knacks), and thirty years later, you still have yours in good condition.
I don’t think that print media will become less desirable. I stopped at several places to get a copy of the New York Times today, and every place was sold out of the paper, even places that typically have left-overs.
As for monetary value, I don’t know that newsprint is worth all that much. The historical value is immense though… if enough time passes first.
Jane Quigley
on 05 Nov 08On my way to the airport this morning, I bought 3 different papers as well as a paper in Dallas on my way back home. I still have my parents papers (well preserved!) from when Kennedy won, when he was assassinated and when Nixon resigned, as well as mine from September 12th.
I’ll treasure the ones that I picked up today and pass them – along with the rest – down to my family in time.
Louise
on 06 Nov 08I think you can’t beat the nostalgia of a newspaper, especially when enough time passes.
My father used to collect newspapers from every major world event. After he passed away I had to sort through them all and decide which to let go of, and which were worth holding onto.
In the end, most of them had to go, but the ones I kept elicit a true feeling of awe in me – of a turning point in history. That’s why I kept the one from the day of the moon landing.
Gary R Boodhoo
on 06 Nov 08but print runs of major newspapers must number in the tens to hundreds of thousands… they’re all identical too… perhaps then, it is the unique aging and degradation of the paper itself that is the emotional draw? I’m sure that could be simulated in software, and for even more nostalgic warmth, just use a teletype or a green/black CRT as display device… yes?
Josh Catone
on 06 Nov 08According to the AP, newspapers are still the keepsake of choice.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/06/obama.newspapers.ap/index.html
Apparently, papers are going on eBay for $600 and many newspapers printed thousands of extra copies to meet demand.
Looks like the world isn’t quite digital yet when it comes to sentimentality. ;)
Josh Catone
on 06 Nov 08Actually, I just looked at the Sun-Times web site… says they’re printing more papers so that Wednesday morning’s paper will be sold Thursday as well. You can also order back copies via the phone for $10.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1261597,where-to-buy-sun-times-papers-110508.article
Josh Catone
on 06 Nov 08Last time I post, I swear. But via the New York Times:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/dead-tree-editions-sell-out/?scp=1&sq=reprint&st=cse
There’s also a photo of the line… pretty amazing stuff.
3stripe
on 06 Nov 08UK newspapers went to press before the results came out, so most of them will only have the full story today!
Marko Lokas
on 06 Nov 08Yes. And you will also be able to touch it, and smell it, which you can’t do with a screenshot…
GeeIWonder
on 06 Nov 08I’m not kidding people. Landfills. Pristine. I’ve seen ‘em.
Save yourself the $1.50 and risk of fire/flood/etc for 50 yrs.
Tim Jahn
on 06 Nov 08No matter how digital we get, I think having a physical rememberance of historical moments will always hold special meaning to us. Humans experience some of their most intimate moments through touch and feel…I don’t think you can replace that.
Chris Webb
on 07 Nov 08This is a fantastic discussion, and a topic I was thinking and writing about on my publishing blog earlier this week (http://ckwebb.com/publishing/barack-obama-and-the-permanence-of-paper/).
What I think is important is that while paper does and likely will continue to have great significance for many of us – especially when it is tied to historical events like the one we witnessed last week – publishers need to consider ways to make our digital formats as virtually future-proof as paper.
This discussion is closed.