Since I began writing this column at the beginning of the year, I’ve had a few regrets.
But all things considered, I’m thankful to have a weekly column in the nation’s largest student-run newspaper.
It’s interesting to write today’s column. Classes are still in session the day before Thanksgiving, but most students have begun to make their treks back home or have long since been home.
It only makes sense that eyeballs will glance across these pages since there are only about 17 students still in Gainesville today. And although the paper is published in its entirety online, I’m thankful that print, at the time I write this, is still a very viable market for news media.
This is a tad counterintuitive to what we’ve been told.
Daily circulation is down nationwide, revenues are down, competition is up and the move to online publication is still churning.
However, in Gainesville, print seems to reign supreme, be it through a copy left on an RTS bus or throughout the city, where the bright orange boxes are as ubiquitous as an oxford on Fraternity Row. And for that I’m thankful.
But why does this student-run newspaper seem to buck the trend?
Perhaps it’s ease of use. Copies are available nearly everywhere on campus and throughout the city, allowing a student to grab one before class, outside his or her dorm room or apartment, outside a dining hall or restaurant and outside the gym after a workout. It almost seems too easy to pick up a newspaper and stay informed about the local happenings on campus. And for that, I’m also thankful.
When I landed the job as a columnist, most people were supportive, but naysayers made their voices loud and clear.
Why would I want to work in a dying industry? No one reads newspapers anymore.
I’ve also written for blogs, so I’ve written for both sets of media, and there’s just something more alluring about the printed word.
The feel and smell of newsprint, the strict deadline that stories and columns are held to and the refreshing notion that some of the news printed has since expired is something I can’t yet part with. And I’m thankful for that.
My father worked for his college radio station, so perhaps it’s genetic.
Our family is drawn to the traditional, old-fashioned kind of lifestyle.
I try not to limit myself just to the printed word — I enjoy converging media in cyberspace.
My dad and I also love baseball, a sport most people consider passe and boring, but we still cling to its tradition.
The death knell may be sounding for newspapers in some places, but I’m thankful I can still pick up a newspaper when I want one.
I’m thankful to still have the written word.
Sean Quinn is a first-year political science major. His column appears every Wednesday.
