The last daily newspaper in Atlantic City, NJ gives up on home delivery

I had the great experience as a kid of being a newspaper carrier.

It was the 5th grade and all of a sudden I was getting up at 4 a.m., heading a half-mile away to a local street corner where a newspaper truck would pull up and a burly man would open the back door and throw bundles of newspapers out the back of the truck onto the pavement below.

Two other kids from nearby neighborhoods would be there with me and we'd each grab our bundle. I'd open mine and fold the papers, putting them into a big cloth bag I'd wear over my shoulder. Then it would be off to hand deliver the papers, no matter the weather.

On Sundays, the papers would be too big and heavy for the bag. Instead, I'd pull a big wooden wagon behind me, up and down the sidewalks of my route.

Today's kids have never known that experience, and probably never will. At least not in the Atlantic City metro area.

With the sneakiness of a thief in the night, the Press of Atlantic City has announced under an obscure headline on Page 4 of their paper edition, that they are stepping away from the newspaper delivery business.

All the adolescent boys (and girls) who once hand-delivered papers are long gone, but soon the middle-aged men and women who've been doing the work from behind the wheels of their cars and SUVs will be gone too.

With a headline reading "Enhanced print editions coming soon", the Press has announced that the days of home delivery will come to an end on Monday, April 3.

What are you going to use to wrap your fish or line your birdcage?

The Press says it will still deliver to you — but only three days a week — and the delivery part will come via the United States Postal Service. Yes, your mail carrier will be delivering your newspaper.

The article stresses that the Press of Atlantic City will continue to provide news via their digital platform. Of course, that digital platform requires you to pay a subscription fee for access to their local news coverage.

(This is where I point out that the article you're reading right now is coming to you absolutely free of charge.)

The Press article concludes by saying, "Thank you for supporting the Press of Atlantic City and its journalists."

What the heck does that mean? I don't click on an article in order to "support" the person who wrote it. I click for the same reason that you clicked on this article: to find out information I want to know.

I guess it was only a matter of time, as newspapers — and carriers — are quickly becoming "yesterday's news."