Nonsense!
‘’Newspaper of record’’ did not originate with the editors.
According to Times archivist Lora Korbut, the phrase first appeared in 1927, when the paper sponsored an essay contest to promote its annual index. Entrants were asked to elaborate on the contest’s title, ‘’The Value of The New York Times Index and Files as a Newspaper of Record.’’ (This probably did not attract as many contestants as ‘’The Apprentice.’’) Somehow what began as a promotion for an index service soon adhered to the skin of the paper itself, perhaps because the meticulous presentation of the acts of officialdom was long one of the ways The Times distinguished itself in an eight-newspaper town.
But even scarier is that my kids don’t read ANY newspaper. They deem them outdated. My daughter said no one will be reading newspapers in 100 years. But she believes EVERYTHING she reads on the internet. Well at least newspapers are dated and recorded and files are kept and names of people who write the articles are kept. With the internet there is nothing of that. I find that even scarier. I can’t get our kids, who are in their 30s, grown, out on their own, to read a newspaper, or to vote anymore!