The internet versus newspapers

I like newspapers especially for the local stuff but they are expensive, one has to recycle them, and what's inside is already old news.  Chances are good that any state, national, or world news one reads in the paper one has already seen on TV or viewed on the internet.  I have allowed my subscription to the paper to lapse.  I miss my local news but get more and better coverage of sports and other news on the internet.  However, there are some trends that I find disturbing and may make newspapers more desirable. 

A singer, a former Miss World, sang a song for the NFL.  She is a gorgeous woman  with a nice voice and her singing her song was shown in color and in video on the internet.  Newspapers are black and white and silent.  Score one for he internet. 

Then there is the story of infomercial products worth buying. Video not available.  How about the one of a great catch in a High School football game?  First you watch a 17 second commercial, then listen to a talking head for 22 seconds of a 28 second clip, see three seconds of the clip, followed by 3 more seconds of the talking head.  Want to see it again?  You have the watch the same commercial over gain. 

Your favorite star is featured in a story.  The headline promises a picture of the star in an unusual situation.  You click on the story only to find its a video of a picture and you have to watch a commercial first. 

Everyday it seems more and more stories on the web are done in video now and the videos are preceded by a commercial.  At least with a paper one can scan the page, pick out the story on wants to read, read it and then move on.  All the most important ads are placed together in the center of the paper and are called inserts. 

I was against cable TV when it first came out.  It was referred too as pay TV and its strongest selling point was that it was commercial free.  There are more commercials on pay TV than there ever was on regular television.  The internet at first seemed like the perfect place to get the news but more and more commercials are popping up in more and more stories done via video.  Even though no one proofreads the stories published on the internet anymore and the writing is done on a ninth grade level, I would much rather read a story than watch it.  That's why I never cared about TV news. 

There just isn't in depth coverage anymore: just little bits and pieces of news and almost always, it seems, preceded by a commercial.  It seems the more people complain the more determined the internet providers are to push these 17 second videos ads. 

I am beginning to really miss the quiet leisurely consumption of news from mu local paper.