In 2009, Paul Gillin at a blogsite called
''Newspaper Death Watch: chronicling the decline of
newspapers and the rebirth of journalism,'' wrote about
a new and humorous term he had just heard of for print newspapers, noting:
''[A blogger] has come up with a new word for newspapers. He calls
them 'snailpapers.' But] the longtime newspaperman insists this is a
term of endearment, not derision. He thinks maybe if newspapers poked
more fun at themselves instead of getting all righteously indignant
about new media, they would generate more sympathy.''
TeleRead recently published two articles that mentioned the snailpaper
meme, and one of them apparently caught the attention of WordSpy
editor Paul McFedries, who added "snailpaper" to his long list of new
words and phrases.
WWW.wordspy.com
Defining a ''snailpaper'' as
''a newspaper delivered physically and so more slowly compared to
online news; the print edition of a newspaper," WordSpy cited a
TeleRead article
headlined "Scissors, Paper, Screen: The Future of Reading" as saying
as a sample citation:
''It's 2013. The screens are winning adherents left and right. Print
newspapers are turning into 'snailpapers' that arrive at our doorsteps
with news that is 12 hours late."
McFedries also cited an article from the Las Vegas Sun last February
by Bruce Spotleson that noted in a passing news brief that
"April 7 is International Snailpapers Day, celebrating hard-copy media."
The earliest citation from WordSpy was dated 2005 and came from the
Washington Post.
"Those of us reading your snail-paper version of the BtB column this
Sunday got a jolt when we turned from the front page of Style to the
jump page 3," wrote the Post humorist in his column titled
"Chatological Humor,"
McFedries noted that the novelty term is of course
''a play on snail
mail: letters, bills, and other mail delivered physically and
therefore much more slowly than e-mail. Slightly surprisingly, snail
mail entered the language as far back as 1982 (h/t OED)."
And it's true, in 1982 Bill Lee wrote an email using the snail mail
term, two words, for the first time, we believe, that read: "No one
else may have answered this for you by now (our Unix-Wizard mail is
slower than snail mail these days) but I'll give it a shot."
SOURCE
—Bill Lee, "Reply to: yacc wizardry sought," net.unix-wizards, June 2, 1982
In keeping with the good humor behind the snailpaper term as both a
term of endearment and pointed humor, I wrote "The Snailpaper
Statement" a few years ago and retrieved it today online. It reads:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that while the Digital Age
is upon us fast and furious, the print newspaper -- hereafter dubbed
the "snailpaper" -- shall persevere as a good daily read, a
fascinating look at the world around us and a valuable tool for
understanding oped pundits and above the fold headlines. Sure, the
dear snailpaper will also be seen as a useful tool
for wrapping fish at the local fish market or lining the bird cage in
the den, but all kidding aside the daily snailpaper
can hold its head high and be certain of its place in the culture.''
''While news migrates in pixels and bytes to the Internet at an
exponential rate, piling breaking story upon breaking story and
turning everyone and his mother into a 24/7 news freak and RSS
aggregator, the plodding snailpaper will nevertheless remain the
bedrock of analysis and insight, from sea to shining sea, delivered at
a snail's pace, yes, read at a snail's pace, yes, and absorbed, word
for word -- on glorius printed paper! white newsprint reflecting inked
letters! -- at a snail's pace, yes, as long as the Republic of Letters
shall live."
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Dan Bloom is a longtime print newspaperman who
is adjusting to the new world of online news and opinion and loves it, sure, but still
reads four newspapers every day on paper.