h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Pierce the

How on earth could you do such terrible work?

gosh, am I glad that I am not a male!!

Christiane
AR9-

Dear Paul H

I did not know you were on bea=ta blockers. They put the fear of ... into me and whenever I read about them I am determined not to complain about whatever I am supposed to complain about. !1 In any casd now I think I have given up doctors. !!; They just depress me. !!

Take care of yourself.

Christiane
AR80

My goodness Prof.

What a totally scary thing to have to do.

I repeat that I am so glad that I am not a male.
I would never have been able to be employed - too scared of everything. !!

Regards

Christiane
AR80

Dear Jabs,

But that is totally and utterly sadistic and cruel. What on earth was it supposed to do for you all except try to kill you off with double pneumonia!!

I am even more pleased that I am a femaile. !!

Christiane
AR80

Dear Paul,

Why are so many newspapers going under? I think that it is because they are so sensastionlist and downright vindictive sometimes.

I have been thinking for some time about how the right of the Freedom of the Press was fought for, and yet so many newspapers just follow the line of the guy who owns them,and print what they like I do not think that that was what was meant by the ethos of the Freedom of the Press.

Christiane
AR80

the old say Christiane, a job that had to be done

I couldn't do it now of course, I get altitude sickness going upstairs

but the only thing I'm scared of issoap

where there's muck there's money,I'm still skint, but why change the habit of a lifetime

bravo, christiane

you are so right in that lots and lots of newspapers are too sensationalists and eager to please their owners by earning a lot of easy money - with the result, that people turn their back on them (the papers, that is)...

but the internet takes its toll too. people do not want to pay for news any more - they can get them for free and upgraded from minute to minute whenever they are near a computer - and with the computers being battery operated laptops and the internet being wireless - well, you do the math

the printed press is in the middle of a huge operation called moving to the internet and trying to make money otherwise than by selling paper

and in a few years a printed paper will be a luxury affordable only to the very rich

Dear Christiane,

Please don't worry about my schooldays in Post 14. None of it was true. It was a Monty

Python joke.


Regards


Jabs

Oh Prof.,

I do not think that you are scared of soap. !!

for me, the best part of the day is the haalf hour or so I spend in my lovely deep bath filling it up occasionally with hot water. It means that I do not have to have pain killers for my arthritis, and |I no longer have pain in my back. !! Very good that.

I still think you were very brave to do that frightening work.

sincerely,

christiane
AlsoRan80

Dear Pierce the Pirate

I have been following the progress of Pres. Obamo on the Internet. There were some magnificent links given by the various American newspapers, so I was able to read the New York times, and the Washington Post. As you suggest that might be the way forward. The interesting thing is that my eyes are so bad now I simply cannot a newspaper. However, I am able to read it when it is on my ciomputer because the print is much larger.

It is so seldom that newspapers are adtually called to task. anyway, I shall have to enjoy just reading the ones I can get on the Internet.

sincerely,

Christiane.

Oh dear Jabs

and I believed every word you said. !! What an nitwit. !!

But my brother in law went to a very strict public school and I know he had a pretty torrid time there.

Thank you for my I shall place it into a lovely crystal vase and guard it well. !1

Kind regards

Christiane.

Regarding the tabloid press; I must admit it gave me some satisfaction
to read of someone wringing an apology from them over their lies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/30/mills-tabloids-pcc

Having written for school newspapers, and having enjoyed the many excellent columnists and reporters who do such extensive research for local stories in my local paper, I am convinced that low quality is mostly not the reason for insolvency in that business.

Many many people get their news when they log onto their computers every day. If they use AOL (American Online) for their home page, they are swamped with "news" stories, most of them teasers that suck them into reading about whatever AOL considers news. Angelina Jolie's baby? The man who tried to smuggle pigeons in his pants?
Some Hollywood actor (choose one) who was seen kissing some other Hollywood actress (also choose one)? Let's compare this with reputable daily newspapers that are selective about what they put on the front page, as opposed to the living-arts or society section.
AOL does not have high journalistic standards, therefore we cannot say that the public is switching from newspapers to them because of some weakness in the newspaper business. There may be some cases where the public is switching from lower-quality papers to lower-quality web sites, but the parent company of the New York Times has very high debt levels and dwindling capacity to pay them off. Would you really want to live in a world where Internet visitors can get to websites like Popsugar, but not the New York Times?

younger people are not used to buying/subscribing to papers. those of us who are used to it - are a vanishing breed...

those are the ways of the world. i can only hope that real journalism survives

I have a funny feeling that the supermarket tabloids will still be in our faces years from now.