In the predawn morning, the last print copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution arrived on my doorstep. Because I have a Ring doorbell, I even got a buzz on my phone which woke me up–unexpectedly marking the occasion.

I was saddened by this passing. I grew up with newspapers daily at the house and many of my closest friends (Tom, Rick, Peg, Steve, Alfred) all were involved with newspapers as journalists, ad sales people and circulation folks. Even I worked as a stringer for the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Not only is journalism a key to free speech in this country (It’s part of the 1st Amendment in the Bill of Rights!) but I also like spreading the paper over the breakfast table with my morning coffee.

Others Affected

Ever since I have raised red wiggler worms in my compost trays, I have used damp newspaper to cover the food scraps. Over the years, the worms seem to appreciate being informed no matter how unsettling the news. If I neglected to feed them properly and they ran low on scraps they’d eat the newspaper leaving a very, very smooth bed of castings. (A sign of intelligence?)

By digesting creditable news sources, my worms are following the wisdom of writer Zadie Smith who wrote in her essay “Agelessness” in her recent book Dead and Alive : “I would rather be sad than duped.”