I read/buy the newspaper because...

I read the newspaper because... 

I read and buy the newspaper mostly out of tradition. I also live with my mother who is now almost 70 and she refuses to give up her paper. I think a better question for me would be why I would give up the newspaper. I would offer that it has no real purpose in today’s society. I use to use it to look for things to buy cheap and local but now with competition from internet sites like Craigslist there is no need to go to the paper because no one is going to use them to sell their goods. Craigslist lets people post their items for free while the paper charges for that service and does not reach a broad enough audience. I also have a desire to lower my carbon footprint and we tend to waste an ungodly amount of paper. It gets recycled or burned and most of it never gets read. Also, contrary to popular belief among folks my age and older, today's mediums are multipurpose and not antisocial at all. We can, not only interact with our news sources but we can also communicate with friends as we are involved in reading and finding news or entertainment.   

If I was to tell a newspaper what to do to stay in business I would likely tell them they first need to be affordable and by affordable I mean free. Second, they should narrow down to quality articles that appeal to a wide range of taste and take out all unnecessary items in a way that maybe uses less paper. Third, I think the overall size of the paper is dated and cumbersome. Most people are not wanting to unfold and scan these huge pages with their tiny print. I know that I use my computer more now than I ever have in the past and the more I become acclimated to its uses the less I use the paper because the internet provides more information on a much more convenient media platform.