Controlling the mystery

A2

Despite all of the shitty things I say about newspapers and the industry, I have to admit – people still love having themselves in print. I haven’t convinced myself that it’s a permanence thing, but the effect is undeniable.

Examples? Of course.

Last night, after the taping of Urban Jacksonville Weekly, I had the paper put a big refer to our show, complete with a screen shot, on page A2. I didn’t tell the other UJW guys, because frankly, I didn’t think they would care. At 7:05pm, I received this text from friend and co-host Joey Marchy:

“We’re on A2 of the TU! I grabbed a paper and tweeted that.” And he did.

But hey, don’t worry, I’m not going all traditional MSM on you. I still know that newspapers are dying and that they often deserve that death. What I am saying is this- when appropriate, we need to control the mystery of print. There’s a power there and it can help.