CARLTON FLETCHER: Imagine swatting a fly with a rolled-up TV

I read the news today, oh boy.

— The Beatles

I love newspapers. Have since I was a kid, and I’d walk/run or bike the mile down the dirt road we lived on to get my daily (except Sunday) copy of The Tifton Gazette and my Sunday copy of The Albany Herald that the delivery person dropped off where our road intersected with busy Highway 319.

I had a Reese’s Cup box filled with stories about Major League baseball that I’d cut out of the papers, and one of the highlights of my Sundays growing up was turning to the MLB stats in The Herald’s Sports section to see what Atlanta Braves players were batting and where Braves pitchers were among the ERA and wins leaders.

Working in the industry for some 45 years now, I still love newspapers with the same kind of passion I had when I was that 10-year-old kid eagerly checking out batting averages. Which is problematic when there are so many people who say newspapers are now irrelevant, that they get their “news” off the Internet.

And, yes, I’ll agree that the influence of newspapers has waned dramatically with the growth of social media. But I’ll fight you on the town square if you say this medium doesn’t matter. Even today, when the public is “kinda OK” finding out the big story they’ve been sharing with all their friends was made up by a bored nerd “influencer” who wanted attention, newspapers – and the real journalists who provide content – are as important today, if not more so, than they were when I started in this business.

As a warning, let me pose this scenario: Imagine your community without its local newspaper. I’m sure a lot of area politicians would love that, but so long as these doors at 306 West Broad stay open, this newspaper will continue to do all it can to keep Albany and southwest Georgia informed.

I was pondering newspapers and came up with a few thoughts:

– The people who write the stories for newspapers are honest-to-God journalists. TV? Radio? Online? Not so much.

– Newspaper journalists actually listen to speakers at an event they cover and ask pertinent questions related to the event … not “What did you guys just do?”

– If you miss a big athletic competition, meeting or campaign speech, newspaper journalists tell you what you missed. Sound bites are simply not enough.

– Crossword puzzles.

– Most newspaper journalists live in or around – and know – the area and people they write about.

– Newspapers are sometimes derisively called “fish wrappers.” They’re actually great for wrapping fish and/or other meat/produce.

– No good yard/estate sale is complete without newspapers to wrap dishes and glassware. Plus, how do people find out about your yard/estate sale anyway?

– When waitresses/chefs empty steamed or baked oysters or shrimp onto a table at a seafood restaurant, they cover the table first with newspapers.

– If you’re waiting at the doctor’s or dentist’s office for an appointment that was scheduled for 9 a.m. – and it’s already a quarter to 10 – nothing passes the time better than scanning a newspaper.

– Comics (i.e. the “funny papers.”)

– Opinion columns … the ones you agree with and the ones you don’t, which give you something extra to bit– about.

– You can put down newspapers as pee pads for a pet you’re house training.

– A rolled-up newspaper is perfect for swatting a pet – or small kids – to get them in line.

– A rolled-up newspaper is also a great flyswatter.

– If a window gets knocked out, newspapers make great temporary fill-ins.

– Some papers still have creative “personals” that unite lonely people and are really fun to read.

Think of the impact papers like The Herald have had on your and your community’s lives. Then imagine those papers going away. Trust me: Your world would be a lot less interesting … and a whole lot less informed.

Email Carlton Fletcher at carlton.fletcher@albanyherald.com.