I have happy memories from the living room floor on a Sunday morning surrounded by family. We’d have three different newspapers - typically The Times, The Observer, and a different tabloid each week chosen by whoever had nipped over to the Post Office to get the papers.
The papers would be spread out over the table, sofa, and floor. We’d gravitate to our preferred sections, be that sport, business, travel, current affairs, cartoons, quizzes, the glossy magazine, personal finance, the advice section, and so on.
It was messy. It was noisy.
Ideas would be shared. People interrupted. People thinking. People listening. People not listening!
I compare it to Sunday mornings we’ve become more accustomed to where each person is immersed in their own digital world.
Our exposure to ideas and interaction has narrowed.
I think the magic of the rustling sheets of paper was twofold:
Firstly, it was the breadth of ideas. The sheer range of things we were exposed to, not because we searched for them, but because they were simply there when you turned the page. Across each paper, it was waves of different ideas, opinions and you discovered new things.
Secondly, it wasn’t just a newspaper - it was a shared social experience. It was discussion, debate, and banter all in a safe space.
Fast forward to the Sunday just gone.
On my way back from the gym, I popped into mini Sainsburys to get a few things for breakfast and the paperstand caught my eye.
It had been a long time since I’d bought one. I scanned the front covers.
My first reaction?
Shock at the price…£3, 4, 5 …someway off my recollection.
Having gotten over the price shock, Nichola and I settled down with a pot of coffee and a bacon sandwich and the noticeably thinner paper than I used to remember (a useful reminder on how online has been gutting print journalism).
As the pages turned, the same two bits of magic emerged again.
The serendipity of broadness as I skimmed different topics…
the latest football results
different opinions on the Trump and Starmer stories
the best Sauna’s in the UK
how to handle a 15 year olds party where someone brings vodka
right through to the nauseatingly preachy Holier-than-thou advice section
None of this was what I’d gone looking for. But all of it widened the conversation.
At a time when there’s so much talk of the challenges to our mental health, the algorithms, social media and divided worlds, it’s a cheap and simple step to take.
I think a good old fashioned print media allows serendipity back into the room in a way that algorithms don’t.
£3.50 is cheap at the price.
Round 2 planned for next weekend.
Here’s 3 experiments to play with this idea (should be pretty obvious where I’m going with this!)
⏱ 2 minutes
The next time you’re about to open your phone out of habit, don’t.
Instead, look around the room and name three things you hadn’t noticed before.
⏱ 5 minutes
Have a short conversation with someone you live or work with and ask them:
“What have you read, watched, or come across recently that surprised you?”
Listen without steering the conversation back to your own views. Let their inputs widen yours.
⏱ 1 hour
Buy a printed newspaper this weekend. Put phones away. Sit with someone else partner, family, friend and read it together. Read bits out loud. Disagree. Laugh. Be irritated. Let serendipity into the room and notice how different the conversation feels when the inputs are broader.
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