By J. DeVoy
The Buffalo News: “Abandoned Cat Loses Weight, Gains Confidence“. Who knew that cats and teenage girls had so much in common – and that it took more than 1,000 words to say.
I like the Buffalo news and will still read it in the future. But one need not look much farther than this article to understand why newspapers are dying.
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Hmm… I think some people just like reading/writing about cats. Ahh, the newspaper… They forgot to stay relevant. Did anyone ever really read the newspaper for its writing prose? I don’t think so. It was sports, classified, the funnies, coupons, and movie times: all of which are now online.
The big mystery here is why the newspapers let themselves become irrelevant. They had the subscriber base. They had the resources. And they had the means. Yet, instead of using the internet to their advantage and adapting to a new niche, they chose to continue in their course, pretending as though the status quo hadn’t changed.
Too bad…
The writing is fine. I just don’t understand what could move someone to write 1,000+ words about the the coming-of-age of a cat as it emerged from its cocoon of obesity to become a thinner, more confident cat.
I mean come on, it’s not even self-aware!
Aren’t newspapers dying because people are cutting and pasting excerpts from them into discussion boards?
Newspapers are dying because people no longer appreciate excellent features like this one. The story was written because (a) children and animals are sure-fire copy, and (b)it is a story of the triumph over adversity, the transition from rejected to accepted, from outcast to beloved–universal themes,universal relevance. That’s what it’s “about,” and yes, Virginia, people still enjoy reading it.