Area Man Buys Printer

In the pre-internet days, before I could use email newsletter traffic to fill my bottomless pit of neediness, I used to print out and bind thirty page missives that I would mail to pretty much everyone I knew. I give myself some credit for inventing blogging before the World Wide Web came along and smoothed out some of the rough edges. Since few of my friends actually requested these publications, I suppose I should also give myself some credit for inventing spam. Maybe it’s not too late for me to return to my print roots. That’s exactly what the newish owners of The Onion are doing. I only wish I knew your snail mail address so I could clip this article and send it to you. We’ll have to settle for the more modern (but probably less satisfying) distribution known as sharing a link. NYT (Gift Article): No Joke: The Onion Thinks Print Is the Future of Media. “This week, The Onion began distributing a print edition for the first time in more than a decade and will soon deliver it monthly to everyone who subscribes to its site. The move is a throwback to the publication’s roots as a campus weekly in the late 1980s. But it is also emblematic of a growing trend in the media industry — trying new ways to attract and retain digital subscribers.” According to The Onion’s executive editor: “I think for the same reason that 18-year-old kids are buying Taylor Swift on vinyl, we can introduce those same kids to the notion that a print publication is a much richer way to consume media.” Area Man Comes Up With Totally Realistic Comparison.