I had the same reaction in Italy. It's standard practice for bars (ie, coffee shops) to set out copies of newspapers - big, fat papers printed on nice wide pages - for patrons to read. Newstands everywhere. Bittersweet, for sure.
What a great post, Don! The history of this paper is so interesting, too!
It hurt me terribly to cancel the WaPo print (not so much now with Bezos' recent antics) when it was running me over $800 a year, and some weeks I hardly put a dent into reading the daily. I still have the digital (and digital to New York Times and the Inquirer), but it is such a different reading experience--and I don't like it, frankly... I don't read as thoroughly as I did with the print. Nor do I find that surprising because I am also a book/media historian and am well familiar with the history of reading, readers, and reading practices--and have read and taught much on the ways various technologies over the centuries have altered these practices.
I'm with you about the reading experience, Nancy. It's why I think print newspapers are one of the great inventions of mankind. They allow us to read items that you might never even hear of, thanks to their collation by fairly smart people (even if you don't agree with their politics). Reading a good newspaper is like sightseeing: you never know what's around the next corner.
I grew up in New York with The Herald Tribune, NY Times, New York Post, Daily News, Village Voice. Despite my three decades in Philly, the weekend edition of the Times arrives on my front step. I cannot live without it. It is part of Sunday breakfast. I carry it with me into the next week. I read real books. As a mid-list author, I detest e books for which the publisher does nothing but push a button and pays the writer a pittance. I love newsstands. Ink stained hands. The sting of new pages. I would like Rennes.
Really enjoy your newsletter, always been fond of spending time in France, been there more than 50 times over the years. A born and bred Philly guy so I grew up reading newspapers from this area, Bulletin, Daily News, Inquirer. Lots of memories of inked stained hands, especially from the Sunday edition. Lots of friends saved the comic section to use as wrapping paper.
My first job in newspapers was as a paperboy, age 11, delivering the Evening Bulletin. I read the sports section every day back then. Rose DeWolf and Sandy Grady were heroes and I was thrilled when I got to work with them 30 years later.
I briefly delivered the Bulletin, my brother worked there as a teen too. One of my buddies that delivered the Bulletin had John Facenda as a customer. Days of yore!
Sports section was always my first read too, Bach when Norm Snead was Eagles QB
How refreshing! Hi, Don, old Ship colleague here. Not only was your post refreshing, it was well written with no spelling errors. Since copy editors were among the first victims of the slow death of journalism, I have seen glaring typos in major publications and not just newspapers…magazines, even novels! Lucky you getting away from the madness here in Crazyville, USA.
It’s Interesting reading about Ouest France and its huge circulation by today’s standards. I’m still a big fan of print so it’s thrilling to me to read your post. Lovin’ it!
A most enjoyable read, Don. I still subscribe to the print Inky, despite its many downsides (stories that I read in the online version days or sometimes a couple weeks earlier, no coverage of the Phillies or Sixers game played the previous night, and a way-to-high price for print compared to online-only access). When I complain about the cost, Sheryl insists we keep subscribing so we do, but I admit I too relate to reading a hard-copy newspaper.
Excellent piece. Ironically, I prefer to read books on my Kindle, but I get a hard copy of NYT every Sunday. There is nothing like spreading a paper out with a cup of coffee! I’m amazed at the daily 600,00 circulation.
This is a great subject. The French paper press does seem to be hanging on much better than the in the US and I hope it will last!
I'm a digital subscriber to Ouest France, as well as Centre Presse (Aveyron), Midi Libre, and La Dépêche du Midi. The latter three have the same owner but I hate to miss anything! And I am considering a digital subscription to La Montagne. (I realize this may be some form of illness.)
Plus, professionally, we receive a weekly paper copy of Le Progrès Saint-Affricain, which I'm pretty sure you haven't heard of in your parts, and La Volonté Paysanne, the local agricultural newspaper.
Digital or paper, what amazes me is how these local publications are still references even for younger people -- our 30-something daughters often send us scoops from them that they have picked up on social media.
These newspapers, smaller than Ouest France, have kept up with micro-detailed coverage thanks to their local correspondents, who I believe write in exchange for a free subscription.
That's a lot of subscriptions! You're right about the qualithy of local coverage in these newspapers. The number of stories blows away what you'll find these days in, say, the Inquirer. I think that's one of the reasons for Ouest-France's huge circulation: it's a great deal. American newspapers killed themselves when they cut back on their newsrooms (and their news hole).
I used to have fewer but since I started writing my Substack publication, I’ve gotten addicted to finding out what’s going on in the type of towns I write about. Other than Centre Presse Aveyron, which I truly read daily, I’m subscribed more to get access to articles online than to “read a paper.” I might have to take a look at the budget, however!
As for the US, I sadly watched as The Daily Olympian, now the Olympian, declined from a high-quality state capital paper with tons of local news to, well, almost nothing. It was a tough decision for my friends in Oly to stop their subscriptions but they all eventually did.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of Ouest-France having read their paper since 2011 to keep up with what's happening in the Anjou area. Thanks!
Maybe because a print newspaper is a great excuse to sit in a café and drink your coffee? Carrying an iPad around isn’t as easy, and reading news off a phone — something I do far too often — is terrible for the neck.
Damn, Don, what a great piece. I get so depressed every time I am reminded of the state of local print media in the United States, especially here in Montgomery County. This pairs perfectly with a shorter piece I wrote last week on the state of local newspapers that appeared in the Times Herald, Reporter, and Mercury in Montgomery County. I'd like to share it with you, but not sure how to do it.
A print edition of the news: a French tradition. The value of it: priceless. For many years, I read the "Wall Street Journal" print edition every morning. Clipped articles to save and send to friends and family. Once I cited one of its articles in a business meeting, and the boss turned to me and said, "Not everyone reads the Wall Street Journal." To which I replied, "They should." When US newspapers and magazines started to go online, I resisted for years. I still love the feel of an actual dead-tree edition in my hands. But now, maybe for convenience, definitely to save the environment a bit, I do get most of my news sources online. Print editions of magazines still come to my mailbox. Some traditions definitely are worth saving.
PS: I really like you two and these excellent dispatches from the civilized world. Keep it up!
I had the same reaction in Italy. It's standard practice for bars (ie, coffee shops) to set out copies of newspapers - big, fat papers printed on nice wide pages - for patrons to read. Newstands everywhere. Bittersweet, for sure.
Yes! I noticed that during our trip last summer to Rome.
What a great post, Don! The history of this paper is so interesting, too!
It hurt me terribly to cancel the WaPo print (not so much now with Bezos' recent antics) when it was running me over $800 a year, and some weeks I hardly put a dent into reading the daily. I still have the digital (and digital to New York Times and the Inquirer), but it is such a different reading experience--and I don't like it, frankly... I don't read as thoroughly as I did with the print. Nor do I find that surprising because I am also a book/media historian and am well familiar with the history of reading, readers, and reading practices--and have read and taught much on the ways various technologies over the centuries have altered these practices.
I'm with you about the reading experience, Nancy. It's why I think print newspapers are one of the great inventions of mankind. They allow us to read items that you might never even hear of, thanks to their collation by fairly smart people (even if you don't agree with their politics). Reading a good newspaper is like sightseeing: you never know what's around the next corner.
Exactly, Don--well said...
Sometimes hotels we stay at still have local newspapers, I usually grab one and read them. Especially at breakfast.
I've noticed it's becoming rarer, though.
Too bad, John got part of thevpaper, then we traded. Heather used to read the obits, then ket me know who died. Now I have to Google it.
I grew up in New York with The Herald Tribune, NY Times, New York Post, Daily News, Village Voice. Despite my three decades in Philly, the weekend edition of the Times arrives on my front step. I cannot live without it. It is part of Sunday breakfast. I carry it with me into the next week. I read real books. As a mid-list author, I detest e books for which the publisher does nothing but push a button and pays the writer a pittance. I love newsstands. Ink stained hands. The sting of new pages. I would like Rennes.
Newsstands are a dying breed in America. My grandfather ran one in Upper Darby during the Depression - people actually read back then!
Really enjoy your newsletter, always been fond of spending time in France, been there more than 50 times over the years. A born and bred Philly guy so I grew up reading newspapers from this area, Bulletin, Daily News, Inquirer. Lots of memories of inked stained hands, especially from the Sunday edition. Lots of friends saved the comic section to use as wrapping paper.
My first job in newspapers was as a paperboy, age 11, delivering the Evening Bulletin. I read the sports section every day back then. Rose DeWolf and Sandy Grady were heroes and I was thrilled when I got to work with them 30 years later.
I briefly delivered the Bulletin, my brother worked there as a teen too. One of my buddies that delivered the Bulletin had John Facenda as a customer. Days of yore!
Sports section was always my first read too, Bach when Norm Snead was Eagles QB
How refreshing! Hi, Don, old Ship colleague here. Not only was your post refreshing, it was well written with no spelling errors. Since copy editors were among the first victims of the slow death of journalism, I have seen glaring typos in major publications and not just newspapers…magazines, even novels! Lucky you getting away from the madness here in Crazyville, USA.
It’s Interesting reading about Ouest France and its huge circulation by today’s standards. I’m still a big fan of print so it’s thrilling to me to read your post. Lovin’ it!
A most enjoyable read, Don. I still subscribe to the print Inky, despite its many downsides (stories that I read in the online version days or sometimes a couple weeks earlier, no coverage of the Phillies or Sixers game played the previous night, and a way-to-high price for print compared to online-only access). When I complain about the cost, Sheryl insists we keep subscribing so we do, but I admit I too relate to reading a hard-copy newspaper.
Mitch (a voice from your past)
Thanks, Mitch! Echoes from 750 Moore Road, which is now an apartment complex - a sad but telling statement.
I’m pretty proud of my grandkids, who are learning to read the Seattle Times on Sundays where they read comics while sprawled on the floor.
Excellent piece. Ironically, I prefer to read books on my Kindle, but I get a hard copy of NYT every Sunday. There is nothing like spreading a paper out with a cup of coffee! I’m amazed at the daily 600,00 circulation.
This is a great subject. The French paper press does seem to be hanging on much better than the in the US and I hope it will last!
I'm a digital subscriber to Ouest France, as well as Centre Presse (Aveyron), Midi Libre, and La Dépêche du Midi. The latter three have the same owner but I hate to miss anything! And I am considering a digital subscription to La Montagne. (I realize this may be some form of illness.)
Plus, professionally, we receive a weekly paper copy of Le Progrès Saint-Affricain, which I'm pretty sure you haven't heard of in your parts, and La Volonté Paysanne, the local agricultural newspaper.
Digital or paper, what amazes me is how these local publications are still references even for younger people -- our 30-something daughters often send us scoops from them that they have picked up on social media.
These newspapers, smaller than Ouest France, have kept up with micro-detailed coverage thanks to their local correspondents, who I believe write in exchange for a free subscription.
I wrote a little ode to my quotidien a few months ago: https://franceinbetween.substack.com/p/kinder-gentler-news-centre-presse
That's a lot of subscriptions! You're right about the qualithy of local coverage in these newspapers. The number of stories blows away what you'll find these days in, say, the Inquirer. I think that's one of the reasons for Ouest-France's huge circulation: it's a great deal. American newspapers killed themselves when they cut back on their newsrooms (and their news hole).
I used to have fewer but since I started writing my Substack publication, I’ve gotten addicted to finding out what’s going on in the type of towns I write about. Other than Centre Presse Aveyron, which I truly read daily, I’m subscribed more to get access to articles online than to “read a paper.” I might have to take a look at the budget, however!
As for the US, I sadly watched as The Daily Olympian, now the Olympian, declined from a high-quality state capital paper with tons of local news to, well, almost nothing. It was a tough decision for my friends in Oly to stop their subscriptions but they all eventually did.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of Ouest-France having read their paper since 2011 to keep up with what's happening in the Anjou area. Thanks!
Maybe because a print newspaper is a great excuse to sit in a café and drink your coffee? Carrying an iPad around isn’t as easy, and reading news off a phone — something I do far too often — is terrible for the neck.
I think you're right, Ellen. I feel like you've gotta have something in your hand to go along with that coffee.
Damn, Don, what a great piece. I get so depressed every time I am reminded of the state of local print media in the United States, especially here in Montgomery County. This pairs perfectly with a shorter piece I wrote last week on the state of local newspapers that appeared in the Times Herald, Reporter, and Mercury in Montgomery County. I'd like to share it with you, but not sure how to do it.
Thanks, Frank! I went digging and came up with your column - great read!
https://www.timesherald.com/2025/03/07/letter-to-editor-those-were-the-days-we-miss-them-more-than-ever/
A print edition of the news: a French tradition. The value of it: priceless. For many years, I read the "Wall Street Journal" print edition every morning. Clipped articles to save and send to friends and family. Once I cited one of its articles in a business meeting, and the boss turned to me and said, "Not everyone reads the Wall Street Journal." To which I replied, "They should." When US newspapers and magazines started to go online, I resisted for years. I still love the feel of an actual dead-tree edition in my hands. But now, maybe for convenience, definitely to save the environment a bit, I do get most of my news sources online. Print editions of magazines still come to my mailbox. Some traditions definitely are worth saving.
I have a friend here in France, a gal from Brooklyn, who clips articles to give me. I love that.