Sunday is newspaper day in house and while we used to buy two, we’re now down to one because we don’t read them. Yesterday was one of the rare occasions when I actually picked up the newspaper and had a read, after spending the whole weekend DIYing it, a bit of relaxation was in order. And it was then that it struck me, as I sat outside in the sunshine flicking through the paper with a glass of wine – this is an experience.

So, I did a little bit of self analysis on the type of story I was reading and which ones I was flicking past. Interestingly, or not, I was flicking past all the news stories, instead choosing to read the features and interviews – particularly a few features on a famous footballer who has just released an autobiography. So, as I sat there chuckling at said footballer’s antics and sipping my wine as the last of the afternoon sun slipped away, I concluded – I don’t read the newspaper for the content, I read it for the overall experience – the sun, the fresh air, the wine, the end of two days of hard-graft. 

All the content in that newspaper was probably around 20 hours old by the time I got to read it, so there’s no value in the news-led pieces as far as I’m concerned. The value for me is in the opinion, features and interviews as they aren’t as heavily linked to timeliness. But that on it’s own still isn’t enough – I still need to have the time to read it and be in the mood to read it, hence why I feel that print media is more about the experience than the content.

So what would I do if I ran a newspaper? Get deals to sell it in the most popular cafes and pubs across the country – go to where that experience is already taking place.