What we get from newspapers

Re “As newspapers fade, a useful physical object disappears too,” Dec. 29

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COLLEEN ELLIOTT Associated Press ABOUT 3,500 newspapers have closed over the past two decades.

THE fading of the newspaper is not like the decline of paper checks and answering machines. It is far more insidious; it is contributing to the dumbing down of our society and eroding our democratic experiment.

When we read only that which confirms our biases — ensured by algorithms on our smartphones and tablets — we lose perspective, empathy and humanity.

As a subscriber to the Los Angeles Times for more than 40 years, I am able to read the educated opinions of both Michael Hiltzik and Jonah Goldberg to understand different points of view. I can read ultraconservative Josh Hammer and the more liberal Jackie Calmes.

And I can read the objective reporting of Times journalists, the kind of reporting that has helped the newspaper win 52 Pulitzer Prizes and other prestigious awards. All this in one place as I have a cup of coffee.

Although I'm not in agreement with some of his editorial decisions that have been publicized, I thank Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong for investing in this publication. Without newspapers, there would have been no American Revolution and, therefore, no 1st Amendment. As Continental Congress delegate and historian David Ramsay wrote, “In establishing American independence, the pen and the press had merit equal to that of the sword.”

I know all too well that eventually, my days of receiving a print edition of The Times could come to an end.

As I venture out every morning to pick up the newspaper from my front yard, I cannot help but notice I am the only one on my entire block who still has home delivery (yes, I know all about the digital version).

As a child of the '70s and '80s, I was always in awe that, for 25 cents a day, I could hold in my hands news from faraway locales on a daily basis.