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For decades, people said that printing is dead. But lucky for those of us whoI love holding a newspaper in our handsIt's just not true. Is printing injured? Sure. But it holds his. Just look at the daily newspaper subscriptions. Although they decreased by more than 50% of a height of 63.3 million in 1984, nearly 30 million American households still obtain a newspaper delivered to their door, according to the 2018 data of thePEW Research Center.

Of course, this means that another relic of the printed past has also survived the digital age: the newspaper carrier. In honor of the International Day of Newspaper Carrier, here are 17 Newsworthynuggets On the hundreds of thousands of people who deliver the news across America.

WhenHenry Petroski Language logs like a 12-year-old boy in Queens, New York, newspaper delivery was an occupation for teenagers boys on bicycles. Nearly seven decades later, "Paperboys" grew up. "Today, our paper is delivered by a person with a car that I have never seen and never met," says Petroski, 78, author ofPaperboy: Confessions of a future engineer,a memoir in which he tells his childhood delivering theLong Island Press.

Some papers always hire carriers that deliver bike, as well as minors with the support of a parent or guardian, but many newspaper carriers today are adults with vehicles, for which newspaper delivery is often a second job.

Newspaper carriers are not newspaper employees. Rather, they are independent entrepreneurs, each having theirown miniature business.

"It can be a very good way to learn about business," explains the 71-year-old retired newspaper publisherVince Vawter, who delivered the MemphisScumitar press as a boy. He also wrotePapperboy, a 2013 novel based on its growing experience in Memphis in the 1950s. "There are transportation means involved, accounting, healthy," Notes de Vawter. "It's really a small business."

Newspaper carriers are usually paid a lump sum per newspaper that they deliver. Job search websiteZip Reports that most newspaper carriers earn 10 to 15 cents per newspaper and carriers can represent up to $ 500 a week, according to Vawter. He says that rural road carriers can receive an additional allowance because their routes cover more miles with fewer customers.

The newspaper carriers earn so little by paper that each centime counts. They are therefore particularly aware of variable spending such as gas, according to VaWTER. "When the price of gasoline are increasing, it really hurts carriers and reduces their profits a little," he says.

These are not gasoline prices that can hit log carriers in the portfolio. It's also their own mistakes. If a carrier misses his deliveries or receives too many complaints from customers, he can be stripped of their route, "said Vawter. Some newspapers, in the meantime - like thePioneer pressFrom Saint-Paul, Minneapolis - Lively load carriers for their mistakes.

"At the Saint-Paul book, a missed delivery, a wet newspaper or late delivery (even during snowstorms) costs $ 1, even if he / she did only 10 cents on delivery and newspaper n responsible for 25 cents, "Bob collins, an old newspaper holder for thePioneer pressand theWall Saint Journal,wrote In 2008, "So for the next 10 days, the carrier would not make money deliver a newspaper to a particular address. Sunday, the penalty was (and perhaps still) $ 3."

More than anything, this number on a paycheck of a hinge log operator on the quality of their itinerary, including its length and location. Arural newspaper,Alpena newsIn Alphea, Michigan, for example, says that its carriers travel from 15 to 150 miles a day to deliver about 150 newspapers each. Asuburban paper,The journal timesIn root, Wisconsin, on the other hand, says that most carriers have routes a few kilometers from their house, between 80 and 100 guests. According to Vawter, most routes take carriers about 90 minutes to complete.

Collins notes that the most beautiful neighborhoods are not always the most attractive for a newspaper carrier. In his experience, customers with large houses have often gave small tips. "[Pro Hockey Player]Marian Gaborikwas on my route. He never had retreated, even after ... Make millions of dollars, "Collins wrote." But the old old man living in a large citizen complex has left a nice note and $ 3 at the end of each month. "

Some routes are so chosen that families transmit them as a wealth between generations. "It's not uncommon for people to have their paper routes for 20 to 30 years, then transmit the family business to children or grandchildren", correspondentLisa Suhay reported in an article of 2014 forThe Christian scientist.

If newspaper delivery is an emergency course in business, it should not surprise that it was the first chapter of the career of many self-manufactured businessmen, includingWalt Disney,Warren Buffett, andKathy Ireland. Many celebrities and politicos also tried their hands at launching newspapersVice President Joe BidenactorTom Cruiseand directorDavid Lynch, Just to name a few.

In addition to a vehicle, each newspaper carrier needs newspapers, rubber bands and plastic bags - and carriers must buy all these basic supplies themselves. Yes, this includes papers, that carriers buy wholesale, explains VAWTER.

Newspaper carriers only have to buy their own supplies; They must also bend their own papers, which is not as easy as it sounds.

"We would have got our papers and bend them so that they are ready to be thrown. It was quite from something to master," says Petroski, who says newspapers tend to be much smaller and therefore more Easy to bend as the thick screaming logs, which regularly numbered more than 100 pages.

The papers today can be smaller and lighter than before, but they can always be a slog. A 12-inch newspaper stack, for example, weighs 35 pounds, depending on the waste management magazineWaste360. And at least once a year, black Friday, many American newspapersweigh more than five pounds. Of course, it's still fragile compared to theheavier newspaper: September 14, 1987 Edition ofThe New York Times Weighing 12 pounds and had more than 1,600 pages. Loading, lifting and throwing this type of weight takes a certain serious arms force!

The newspaper subscribers expect to have their morning paper at dawn so that they can read it before breakfast, according to Vawter. It states that newspaper carriers usually have to be at work by 3 adies to finish their 6 h. - And some papers can be delivered even earlier. "Our deadlines [in the newspaper business] used to be 1 hour old, but they are now at 10:30 or 11 hours." Explains VAWTER. "It means a lot of papers are on the street now at 1:30 or 2 o'clock in the morning, and as soon as the papers came out, the carriers go to their drops and pick up their packages. So, many times you can now have a Journal at your door within 3 hours of the morning. "

If a newspaper publishes seven days a week, carriers should deliver seven days on rain, shine or snow. Carriers who need to take a break from their route can do so, but only if they can recruit a reliable pinch stagger to deliver their papers while they are away.

Newspaper carriers are like DJs: they take requests. "There were some clients who were waiting for the document to be put inside the door or delivered in a particular way," says Petroski. "Maybe 10% of customers were like that, and the promise or expectation was that they would give you better advice."

When Vawter was newspaper editor, newspaper carriers often called the document with tips. And sometimes they even called 911. "In a sense, it's the eyes and ears of the community," said Vawter. "Many roads start at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, when there are not many people in the street. I can remember once at theKnoxville Sentinel NewsWhen a paper holderwitness of a fire and called the fire department. As I remember, his call probably saved lives. I think it's quite common. "

Sometimes newspaper carriers are in the right place at the right time to report crimes and save lives. However, as easily, they can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. An analysis of 2018 by theColumbia Journalism Review (CJR),For example, at least 45 instances since the 1970s where newspaper carriers died at work.

"Of these 45, 23 carriers have been murdered or killed violently during the job since 1992, more than twice twice the number of journalists killed during the same period," said CJR, noting that Carriers "are often targeted for their money, vehicle, or other personal property."

The stories of carriers are as incredible as they are Hanes. In April 2018, for example, an anchoring newspaper carrier in Alaska wasCoupé repeatedly stabbed By making his deliveries the morning - and then he continued on his way!

It is customary to point a log carrier from $ 5 to $ 10 a month and up to $ 25 during the holidays - but most customers do not hold anything.

This is because newspaper delivery is often "an ungrateful job", according toLindsey loves, a spokesperson forNews Media Alliance. The advocacy group produces an annual announcement for newspapers to execute in their publications on the International Day Carrier Day in October, thanking carriers for their hard work. "We can use the same newspaper they deliver to thank them, and let readers know how much we appreciate the people who provide them with the new daily," she says.

Newspaper carriers do not only provide papers; They also offer a democracy, according to love. "Without newspaper carriers, many people would not receive news that keep them informed of their communities," she says. "Newspapers and newspaper holders play critical roles to preserve our democratic society and we could not be more grateful." And for more fun facts, you may not know about the world around you, check out the200 genuine facts on everything.

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