STOP YHE PRESSES! The History of Newspapers and world changing events. From the time that someone scratched out an offer to sell some chickens, or some news from the next village on a clay tablet and handed it to someone else, the newspaper was born. Rapidly though newspapers became more about ads than news. It is still the same today, 'cept no one's buying ads! No mystery here… no ads, no local paper; an old, and often told story. The history of newspapers on the central Oregon coast runs something like this: Beginning with the Yaquina Post in Yaquina City (1882), the area had five newspapers in 10 years. By 1925 Newport was the center of action with the Newport Journal. By the 1960s, the local gazette was known as the Newport News. Eventually, they purchased the Lincoln County Times of Waldport and the two names were combined to the present day News-Times. The News-Times is now owned by News Media Corp. out of Illinois. For the last two years I have been working as a graphic designer for the News-Times, which is following the same pattern as their forebears (an aprox. 2-4 yr. business cycle). Add in an economic crisis, declining readership and well... Hometown newspapers are dying these days because folks are wanting faster-paced, interactive news and entertainment. That's right, what people want is news presented in an entertaining way; even if it was not too accurate. What's a rag to do… Well, years ago some very clever people caught on to all this and invented what affectionately became know as the "Supermarket Tabloid." One of the best of these is the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS. The Weekly World News makes little attempt to report actual news. Instead, they leave that to the humorless mainstream papers. They report on crop circles and miracle babies born to sheep. The print version is now defunct but its online version is as bawdy and in-your-face as the print version ever was. Those iconic Weekly covers, however, endure in our check out line memories to this day. If only someone would report the news with tabloid flair. Well, hang onto your scallops Virginia, there is just such a paper right here on the central coast. Enter the DEPOE BAY BEACON. Rick Beasley started his Depoe Bay paper 12 years ago; styled after the tabs but carrying real news, including the always entertaining "TRUE STORIES OF THE OREGON STATE POLICE" and the Beacon's Editor, Larry Steidle's series "OBAMA & ME." All that, and still only 25¢—"such a deal," …and still available at your your local super market! As the News-Times continues to slowly atrophy I became the latest victim of its current cycle. But as fate would have it I am now doing the graphic design work for the Beacon; publishing the "Last independent voice on the Oregon coast." But wait… STOP THE PRESSES, we have a breaking story… Here at the YAQUINA CITY INQUIRER we're welcoming our newest staff member, David Wilder Hansen. Born May 7th, weighing 9 lbs, and measuring 22". Bloodwork indicated no alien genes, other than one pair of Wrangler's. Now that's news fit to print!