Read all about it — and see the Jets from our suite By: Paul Samyn Posted: 7:00 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018 Last Modified: 9:56 AM CST Friday, Dec. 14, 2018 Updates

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2018 (1959 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I am guessing most of the Christmas wish lists that go to Santa don’t include a subscription to the Free Press.

This sad but true fact ignores the reality that a newspaper is a gift that keeps on giving all year long, doesn’t need batteries and is perfect for all ages.

But what if the dynamics of gift giving were seen in a different light when it came to newspapers? What if our spending decisions looked not to the news we can already get for free on Twitter or Facebook, but to the value of supporting your community by way of the local newspaper? What if consumer decisions started to see newspapers as something more than just widgets?

I ask these questions because there are costs we all bear when nobody is willing to pay to read what newspapers produce.

“That’s because newspapers are not like most things we buy” Shankar Vedantam explained on this week’s episode of Hidden Brain on National Public Radio.

“If I decide not to buy a watch, I save money. But if I decide not to pay for a police department, I might save money in the short run but end up paying more in the long run. Most of us treat newspapers like consumer products, but new research suggests they might be more like police departments.”

I’m not sure how our police department would take being lumped in with the Free Press, but I hope you get the point.

So while you mull over that perspective, I’m going to help sweeten the case for supporting the Free Press because it is Christmas and it is better to give than receive.

I have a number of tickets in our private suite for the Jets game against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, Jan. 13, and I am looking forward to enjoying the game with readers like you.

The first Christmas gift offer is available to kids only. I will award three pairs of tickets to those under age 18 who impress me with a short essay about why local newspapers matter. All you need to do to enter is make the case for newspaper journalism in 500 words or less.

Send me your pitch by email to newspapersmatter@freepress.mb.ca by noon on Dec. 21. Please include your name, age and contact information as we will be publishing a selection of these letters in our newspaper and online. The three lucky winners can share the experience with a parent, grandparent, older sibling or friend.

The second Christmas offer involves our upcoming Bury the Lede holiday podcast with Jen Zoratti and Erin Lebar in support of the Christmas Cheer Board.

Anyone who joins us at the West End Cultural Centre on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. by buying a ticket for $20 will be entered for a draw for two tickets in our private suite to watch the Jets. You can buy your ticket for our fundraiser at wfp.to/holiday

The third Christmas gift offer involves a consumer decision that requires the entrant to recognize the Free Press is much more than a widget. Anyone who becomes an online subscriber by signing up to support our journalism for $16.99 a month as of noon on Dec. 21 will be entered to win a pair of tickets to join us at the Jets game.

We will award three sets of tickets from among those new online subscribers. This same offer applies to our existing print subscribers who activate their digital account.

To our subscribers who have been supporting us all year, I hope you have a wonderful holiday that comes with lots of time to read everything we produce.

To those who become Free Press subscribers in the New Year, I hope we can continue to earn your trust.

And to anyone who gets on Santa’s knee and asks for a Free Press subscription this Christmas, I owe you.

paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca @paulsamyn

(For complete contest rules, see wfp.to/contestrules)

Paul Samyn
Editor

Paul Samyn has been part of the Free Press newsroom for more than a quarter century, working his way up after starting as a rookie reporter in 1988.

   Read full biography