Print Media

When Bob was a child his family used to received "The Grit" which is a general news newspaper that had anything and everything in it. They would normally read it at night and it was passed around the family so everyone would be able to read it. They also used to get a magazine called "Today" which was another general magazine. Later in life he subscribed to Popular Mechanics and the Saturday Evening Post. Since he lived in a rural city he got his mail through the postal service, he never picked it up from a news stand or a store and never worked delivering newspapers.

A cover for the 1952 December edition of
Grit Magazine

Source:https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Do-you-remember-the-GRIT-newspaper-/5-2059411/

A cover for the 1982 May edition of
Popular Mechanics

Source: https://www.wolfgangs.com/magazines/popular-mechanics-vol-157-no-5/magazine/OMS27578.html

When he was a child he mainly read the comics but once he grew older he changed to read more of the classified and news stories. Similarly with movies his family did not have any specific magazines that he was not allowed to read. He knew there were certain magazines that were controversial such as playboy and playgirl and he did not read them nor seek them out.

Regarding reading, he only really read when he was required to in school and never really had any favorite books. When he did get his book he would get them from the school or public library. He did mention there was a store uptown where you could buy comic books and you could trade old books for new sets but he never really participated in it much.

Bob has acknowledged that there has been a change in newspapers and magazines over the years but he can't really put a word to it. The best way that he could describe it was "biased". He says that a majority of the newspapers today report on what they want to and it influences what newspapers and magazines he reads.

"They have their minds made up and that's all they report."