Lucas Ichnoski: Remember the Newspaper?

There are many different newspapers out there, but only very few are actually lasting. The articles portrayed in the newspapers vary from each one depending on the geographical location. For example, Dundalk Eagle and Baltimore Sun only write about things happening in Maryland. Theres no reason for there to be articles about Hawaii published in our newspaper. Granted, it has articles about how athletes are doing on a day to day basis, but those athletes the articles talk about tend to be athletes on Baltimore's own sports teams, not other teams. Not only are there sports related articles but it also has comics, complex puzzles, obituaries, and more. Some of which could probably be removed to save money, because honestly, how many people actually do the crossword puzzles or care about the comics?

Personally, in about 10 years, I think most, if not all newspapers will be done with and only be used as paper to put on your tables when eating crabs. I dont believe that people in our generation, or after us, are going to be purchasing newspapers. They are only getting newspapers that their parents subscribed to back when they were the best things to read. Not only because most of the information can be read online, but because the price of them is increasing. Why pay for something when you can get it for free?

In my opinion, the only newspaper that will outlast all the others is going to be USA Today. I say this because USA today covers stories happening all over the world, not just in one specific location or region. People on the West Coast can benefit from reading USA Today just as much as people on the East Coast can. Because the audience from USA Today is much larger than others, it should outlast most if not all other newspapers still being printed today.

Lucas Ichnoski: Magazines in the checkout line

Going through a checkout line, almost all magazines are basically shoving Photoshopped, unrealistic images of celebrities or athletes in your face. Many people, men and women, question their own appearance looking at these magazines, wondering why they don't look more muscular and toned, or why they don't look skinnier, and ultimately lowering their self esteem. The headlines of the magazines are positive, saying things such as "You can lose weight fast!" or something along those lines, but the ultimate message makes the reader feel more and more insecure. I, for one, have never questioned my self image based on a magazine cover because I know they are all fake and 99% of the people featured on the cover dont even look like what the magazine shows.


Just look at this magazine cover of Katy Perry for starters. In the actual magazine cover picture, you can see that she was given a more tan skin color, so she didn't look so pale. The editors also gave her more curves, and made her boobs bigger. Not only that, but they even edited small details like getting rid of her sock, and even making sure that all 5 of her fingers were completely showing and not tucked in. This goes to show how fake magazine covers are, and I think its dumb of people to question their appearance based on what they see on them.

I'm not a fan of magazines because to me they are all gossip and celebrity news that I personally couldn't care less about. Who cares if someone is pregnant, or if a famous actor is having an affair. In no way does that affect me. The only magazines that I would find interesting are on music, movies, certain sports, etc. Nothing that deals with celebrity news, but more along the lines of an activity I enjoy doing, or something I actually care about.