Reflecting on the Hot Topic for Week 8 - Newspapers

Reflecting on My Discussion Post

Below was my post for the week eight hot topic question.  I tried to explain how my love of newspapers since childhood made me a so-called expert/connoisseur of newspapers.  Based on my own experiences with a number of newspapers, I feel that the Vancouver Sun is the best newspaper available to the people of the lower mainland.  It offers well written stories on a variety of topic relevant to people of the lower mainland.

I also spoke to my personal preference of print over electronic/online newspapers.  I like that when you read a print newspaper, and flip through the pages and sections, you really feel engaged.  I also stated that many newspapers allow individuals to access at least a portion of their articles online without a paid subscription.  This means that a TL could subscribe to just one print paper and then allow students to surf parts of other newspapers online for free.

What I did not consider in my Vista post was how much an electronic subscription is and how it works?  If an online subscription is much less than a print subscription, that may make it more attractive to a potential subscriber (TL).  Furthermore, it would be important to determine how the subscription works.  If a subscription allows unlimited users at a school to access the newspaper, then it would be a major advantage over a print newspaper.  I think that these two considerations definitely need to be made before subscribing to a newspaper in print or electronic form.

Vista Discussion Post

Print Newspapers

Ever since I was an intermediate student in elementary school I have loved reading the newspaper.  I used to wake up early so that I could take my time eating breakfast and reading the paper.  Depending on my interests at the time, my focus ranged from the “headlines”, to business and usually sports.  As a result of my love of newspapers, my parents tried subscribing to a variety including The Vancouver Sun, The Province and The Globe and Mail.  My favourite was always The Vancouver Sun.  Due to my personal bias, The Sun would be the newspaper which I would subscribe to for my high school library.

The Vancouver Sun has many attributes which makes it the best choice.  Firstly, it is produced six days a week providing currency.  Secondly, it has a lot of variety in terms of content.  The articles cover all major news stories about politics, economics, etc.  Thirdly, the level of writing is at a high school level.  The diction is advanced, yet not so advanced that it is contentious or difficult to read.

The Province is a good newspaper and is similar to the sun (since it is produced by the same company) but it is written at a lower reading level and the stories focus much more on recreational content (sports, entertainment, etc.)

The Globe and Mail may be the best newspaper in terms of writing/reading level.  However, it does focus more on stories relevant for Eastern Canada and the writing/reading level may be too challenging for some students at a high school level.

Subscribing Online

While I think electronic newspaper subscriptions are good, I much prefer to read print papers.  There is something to be said for getting to hold the newspaper and flip through the pages.  Furthermore, the main articles from the Vancouver Sun and other papers can be accessed online without any subscription at all.  I would much rather subscribe to print newspapers and then allow students to access the main articles online for free.  With limited funds, I believe the better use of money is in subscribing to print newspapers and allowing students to access limited electronic versions for free.