Editorial History!

Okay, so the day after the election, I woke up hoping that if I got to the bus stop early enough, I would get my hands on what I knew would be a historic piece of the election. Well, as a faux pas on my part, I didn't even get into work until 11. All the papers were gone, on the street, at newsstands, stores, Walgreens, you name it.

Then the Chicago Sun-Times announced that on Sunday, their paper would have a collector's item 32-page pullout on the ascendance of Barack Obama in the election. So, this time, I decided that the early bird catches the worm. I left my house at 6:50 a.m. By the time I got within a mile of my home, I realized that getting a paper was going to be a task. Everywhere I went, the Sun-Times dealers were all out of papers. Every newsstand, paper box, store was completely out. I drove all across the city, stopping everywhere I could to get this special edition of the Sun-Times.

Finally at two corners on 87th and Stoney Island, I saw a dealer selling papers. I parked my car, got and stood in line for an hour until I got right up to the front and the dealer ran out of papers. I finally was able to stand in line at Walgreens and get one before going back to that same Sun-Times dealer to get two more.

Now, as a former journalism major, I love newspapers. Especially historic papers such as the Sun-Times, Tribune, Washington Post, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, etc. However, this spiraling economy has affected newsprint as well. So much so, some papers have considered just going online. Never in my life have I stood in line for an hour for a paper. Today, I did - in the cold. Proudly. As both an Obama supporter and as a supporter of news print. I think it is amazing that both of the major papers in Chicago have sold out of papers everyday since he won the election. Literally every single day, they have sold out! That has never happened.

I heard a disc jockey talking about this phenomenon and he said that Obama is creating jobs already and he isn't even in the White House yet. If this is the future of newspapers. If this is the excitement and buzz that has been created due to his presidency and eventually his legacy, then I say newspapers better get with the program and continue to be a huge part of history.