Newspapers Suck Without Comics

I have solved the great reading problem of modern America.

The question: how do we get people to not only fall in love with reading?

The answer: it's simple. Bring back comic strips in newspapers.

The decline of newspapers is often tied to the rise of digital media. While that may have contributed, I think the biggest issue is a lack of support for comics.

Comic strips have been treated as a dead medium. Very rarely were older strips swapped out for something new and fresh. I don't how many times I've read the Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, and Cathy. All great strips in their own right, but even I got tired of them.

Do you know how excited I was when Zits hit the scene? In 1997!

With the lack of fresh creations, the readership skewed older, perpetuating the problem. Then comics were cut for space and cost. Smaller foot prints lead to a crappier experience. A foolish decision.

Newspaper tycoons, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, understood the draw of comics. With a lower literacy rate during the 19th century, comics offered an easier, entertaining read while being a training ground for better readers. Without them the growth of the newspapers would have been left to the educated and well off.

People are still drawn to the comic format, however, it's taken the shape of memes (particularly the image macro format). An image with words superimposed on it. Sometimes multiple images in a sequence, other times just one. How is that unlike Family Circus or Farside?

One of humanity's great talents is our ability to create stories. We have a particular flair for using a combination of words and images. Don't get me wrong. I love a novel full of prose. However, we are visual creatures and there's something amazing about a three panel comic strip that nothing can compare to.

I do think there has been snobbier that has added to the decline of comic strips. Growing up in the nineties and early aughts, I saw this rise of academia as the thing to aspire to while low brow mediums were cast to the side. Occasionally brought out ironically or for some academic book published by a university.

There was an indie scene, sure. People are always making underground, independent media. I'm talking about the perception of comics by mainstream media. They were considered childish. Especially comic strips. Childish but only really read by older readers who found comfort in seeing their favorite orange cat every day.

This elitism has to be acknowledged as I find that the biggest obstacle for people trying to learn is shame. If shamed for their enjoyment of the funny pages, why would they try reading further?

This is a plea to newspaper publishers out there. We need comic strips.

Bring back comic strips. Bring them back in a big way. A full section. Multiple pages. A range of genres. We will see a rise in readership, literacy, and understanding if we just stick to it.