For a day, at least, newspapers were cool again
That was the first sentence to a New York Times article alongside this photo: scores of people waiting in line to buy a newspaper.
In a time when jittery reporters are all nervous about losing their jobs, it was refreshing to feel that our work is still important.
Readers told us it was difficult to find a copy of the Daily Bulletin anywhere. In our newsroom, even editors couldn't get their hands on a copy. Around 6:30 p.m., long after our newsroom closed, a woman came banging and yelling, demanding a copy. She had just put 50 cents into our machine without looking to see that it was empty. I guess she had hope that a newspaper would automatically appear, if she risked two quarters.
But try finding a copy of yesterday's Daily Bulletin for 50 cents. On Ebay, our paper is being sold for $49.99. If we keep this news interest up, I might just get that raise I've been wanting.
That feeling of being relevant and loved was a foreign one. It seemed that for a day, at least, our readers liked us. They seemed to be swept up by the change in the air and actually appreciated daily journalism.
But then the phone rang. A reader wanted to know why my article in Wednesday's paper didn't have the local results. I explained that all the precincts in San Bernardino County weren't counted until Wednesday afternoon.
"Well then why did you run that picture of our new president on the front then? Ah!" he said, exasperated. "I'm just calling to complain."
In homes across the Inland Valley, birds are eyeing the newspaper at the bottom of their cage and thinking, "How can I get this pristine copy on eBay? I can buy my freedom! I can...oops...never mind."