If You Need Your News on the Run, Read the Summary

In a New York Times article by Katharine Q. Seelye, found at Digest, news is taking off. First, there’s coffee and breakfast on the run, and now there’s news on the run. The Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister paper, The Daily News, are trying something new for those on the go with a schedule that doesn’t allow anytime for the newspaper, no matter what’s going on in the world. A digest is being printed in the newspapers themselves that summarizes all the important news happenings, keeping readers informed. A few articles, sports scores, lottery numbers, weather, and daily updates in conjunction with the website and nightly television news are compiled. Commerce Bank sponsors the digests and displays its logo on the page. A subheadline reads “The most convenient way to get your news. Presented by America’s most convenient bank”. The back is prime advertising space and is bought by the finest of quality companies with that much to invest for advertising. Who better than a bank? The Inquirer Express is on the back of The Inquirer sports section. The Daily News at a Glance is a few pages after the tabloid’s front pages.

This opportunity will not hurt print journalism. Newspaper readers will still read the entire newspaper front to back to keep fully informed while waking up and drinking coffee. For many, it is a daily routine they take the time for and it’s relaxing. For others, they need to move a lot faster, but still want to know what’s going on around them, and can’t, unless they overhear a conversation. Readers can now read the newspaper while walking, getting ready, all in a matter of a few minutes. This will bring more readers and add involvement, rather than lose readers.
If you’re like me, being on the run means there isn’t time for keeping up with news as bad as I would like to. I just have more important things to do in my busy schedule that I can’t sit in front of the television, read the newspaper, or look up the news on the internet. There is so much information in the paper that I hate to see wasted and the money wasted, but with this new idea, Philadelphia is trying something to increase the print journalism field’s exposure. Subscriptions will more than likely rise, and the new organization of print journalism will catch on. News in any form is better than none, so why not make it user friendly.