The Times-Picayune

What can I give a person that has in return given me so much for so long? With him in my life, I never felt alone. He wrote to me every Thursday morning in the Times-​Picayune, piquing my curiosity and educating me on a myriad of subjects that included everything from the birth of the universe to the literary works of E. E. Cummings to the intelligence of animals to, of course, landmark cinema. I therefore consider it a privilege to honor Roger Ebert by writing to him as he has faithfully continued to write to me all these years.
Throughout my youth, I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I envied those around me who found their callings early. Among a few of the talents I felt I possessed was that of writing. My English teachers tried their best to encourage me but I just wasn’t inspired. Reflecting on my life, I believe what I was missing was a tutor with a unique vision and an incomparable ability to translate that vision to words. Enter Roger Ebert. He didn’t just critique a film. He gave it a heartbeat. He made it personal. Through his entries, both film reviews and personal journals, I was invariably exposed to great but-​often-​forgotten actors and actresses, film directors, history, music, art, radio, literature, famous speeches, plants, the universe and even proper etiquette within a given scenario. Being an only child and one who also grew up without the everyday presence of my father, his education and wisdom bestowed unto me was, and continues to be, invaluable. Through Roger’s influence, I not only learned how to be a better writer but also a more well-​rounded individual.
I’ve always attempted to live my life through basic principles, one of them being to always leave the world in a better place than when you found it. Live with intense passion and touch the souls of all of those who surround you by continually educating yourself, teaching and inspiring. Throughout my life, Roger Ebert, you taught me the ever-​precious virtue of seeing things without my eyes; to truly absorb the majesty and wonder of this world with all of my senses. You taught me to be inquisitive, to ask all the difficult questions in pursuit of the truth and greater understanding. You taught me to be unyielding in the face of adversity and to always finish strong. You taught me how to be a better human being, to embrace life with integrity and dignity, to be selfless and to be pure of heart. Roger, you left me with the greatest of gifts but perhaps the greatest of them all is the ability to share what I’ve learned from you with those coming after me.
I leave you with the closing paragraph of the Chicago Sun-​Times’ article on Roger Ebert’s legacy, as I believe it embodies the magic of not only a brilliant writer but a beautiful teacher to all of us: «Kindness covers all of my political beliefs,» he wrote, at the end of his memoir, «Life Itself.» «No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.»

This newspaper will sanction and limit your freedom of speech if you publicly disagree with any of their reports especially by Jarvis Deperry. Ironic isnt it???

The TP has been replaced by the new NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE.. A daily home delivered newspaper that is Louisiana owned.

Ahhh its been an inaccurate liberal slanted rag for awhile now that sometimes has good stories with their few good reporters. I’ve mainly been reading it online for years now so their transition to focusing more online and less on daily print doesn’t disturb me that much except for the fact that we really NEED newspaper in New Orleans for our crawfish, crab and shrimp boils! The online version really pisses me off with how they will selectively and arbitrarily delete posts in discussion threads when the oppressing viewpoints are better researched and completely disprove their often inaccurate and highly slanted «stories» that are more opinion pieces. They also did a design change to the online version that made it more of a blog format and the new format really is terrible.

Ah, newspaper, the dying medium. My family has been a faithful subscriber to the Times Picayune for as long as I can remember. Some may say that it’s «bias», but really, what newspaper isn’t? Wherever you go, the newspaper is going to lean one way or the other and that’s just the way it is.
I’ll be honest. Since I am a part of the «younger» generation, I do get most of my news online at
(which is the same as the TP). because I find it more convenient to read throughout the day. You get good info from this paper and I really think that it has a lot to offer.
My favorite part of the paper is probably the more local, bi weekly «break off»; Gretna Picayune, Marrero Picayune, etc. It’s full of local information about what is going on in the area and little local events.
Sure, this paper has flaws, but who doesn’t save the first page when something significant happens in this town (Katrina, Super Bowl).

I love reading newspapers for one reason, opinion pieces and editorials. That is where this paper fails in a massive way.
As a independent, I love hearing both sides of the fence. I used to live in Anchorage, AK where there would be a article about reducing hunting laws and then have a article the next day talking about outlawing trapping. Nothing too crazy like killing hunters or clubbing seals. Our New Orleans takes another route of just being left wing. Not just left wing, but off the dang map left wing a majority of the time.
This is not a cry to modify it where there are equal stories from both sides, but throw one in there to change it up. Slamming everything on the other side is too much.
They get 2 stars for covering my Saints. They do start BS rumors like Randy Moss signing with them, but it had me excited for a day.

Here’s the thing about the TP. Everyone loves to pick on it but then I go read papers in other cities and I realize how lucky we are to have it.
It has it’s issues (get it, Ha!) but I think it is still solid. The online site (
) is more likely to have typos and errors as they rush to get the news out, but most of these are corrected by the time they print.

It’s a good newspaper in print but has easily the worst online presence of any newspaper in the US in a city with a population above 200,000. It has no Facebook presence — profoundly odd. Though its Twitter feed is ok.

When Chris Rose stopped publishing his column, I stopped subscribing.
We miss you, Chris!

We have many papers, many tiny non-​daily papers.
We have one regular daily newspaper, that is the Times-​Picayune.
I frankly find it extremely bias, but it’s still the best source of regular information you got. Sometimes you can’t watch TV for your news, you just have time to read a little, and there really is no other option besides these guys to do that. They also run the most legit news site for the area,
.
Maybe one day we will have another option, a good blog perhaps? We will have to hope and dream.
Until then, your A OK Times Pic.

The Times-​Picayune is New Orleans’ last major newspaper. While some of their coverage can be slanted, they have some really good reporters who try and report the news.
Their online news site (
) allows even non-​subscribers to keep up with what’s going on in the city.

Read the local newspapers in other cities and then you will begin to understand how amazing the Times Picayune really is. Many of the writers are underrated, and under appreciated. The Picayune constantly ranks as one of the top 5 newspapers read by locals in major cities via percentage of population. And when you notice the quality of all of the articles from the Money section all over to Sports, it’s very evident.
Unfortunately now I live in a city with a crappy newspaper. And I sure do wish they could get a clue and use The Times Picayune as a template.