I walked outside the door to pick up my morning paper. The morning was dark and early. Because I was on my way to do my physical fitness, I didn’t bother to look very closely at it.
After I had returned from my run and shower, I sat down to read the paper.
Opening my paper, I realized that I was not reading the New York Times—but the Washington Post.
I was disappointed.
It is my morning ritual to read The New York Times–to see what is going on in the world and to enjoy a cup of coffee. This morning it was different. I was disappointed.
I was inadvertently cheated out of my morning paper. Yes, the Washington Post is an acclaimed newspaper, but it nowhere near matches The New York Times.
There is a reason for this. The Washington Post reads like a local paper. Being from the nation’s capital, it discusses the latest political news, and the latest agenda–on whichever side Republicans or Democrats. Frankly, I could care less. This is not to say that I am not interested in the news. I am a faithful reader of the newspaper–for the news. I just don’t care about politics.
While the New York Times has a reputation in the conservative world as being liberal, I find it rather refreshing. Do I detect a liberal slant from time to time? Yes I do. But, I like to read it for myself. (This would be a good opportunity to discuss shaping one’s own worldview but to do this would digress from the topic at hand.)
I enjoy reading my news, rather than having the television selectively tell me what I am interested in. The New York Times allows me to read the news with enough of the facts presented to make my own decisions. Reading the Times also allows me to decide whether I think the story is interesting or just to skip it. The Washington Post, however, lacked the meat that I needed–as it reads like a local paper with the heavy focus inside the beltway. If I want local paper, I would read the Richmond Times Dispatch. I read this paper on Sundays.
So, later on during the day, I dialed the customer service phone number to express that I had missed my paper and within minutes the deliveryman was at my door. He handed me a Richmond Times Dispatch and walked away…
*sigh*