The Paper
By Malkie Gordon Hirsch Magence
I’ve got a confession to make: I love magazines.
Gossip, cooking, general interest—you name it. I’m an equal-opportunity reader when it comes to those glossy front covers promising to make you a more efficient human while delivering the latest gossip on people you don’t actually know.
You know, the ones that hang out at the front of the pharmacy or grocery store, daring you to pick them up and toss them into a pile of things you didn’t think you needed—but somehow you end up carrying them home anyway.
Usually, this happens organically, as I wait for a human cashier—one of my current guilty pleasures. No robot self-checkout to work in tandem with, just me, staring into space or grabbing a magazine, its glossy pages promising hours of distraction.
As if I’d even recognize the new crop of actors on the covers. Tell me I’m middle-aged without actually telling me.
Over time, it’s become a Shabbos morning tradition: me, my coffee, and a magazine of pure schmutz, sprinkled with pretty advertisements that subliminally taunt me to buy the products being advertised—so I too can look as polished as the models who spent hours being made up for a photo shoot.
Last Shabbos, I opened one up to a show I hadn’t yet heard of called The Paper. It had a cast of familiar faces, including a well-known Jewish comedian I’ve been following for some time. My curiosity was officially piqued.
Two days later, I had finished the show, binge-watching into the early morning hours.
I think the reason I was so drawn to it wasn’t the characters or the storylines—it was the subject: the newspaper business.
As you know, the publication you’re reading my articles in belongs to the newspaper my father founded 25 years ago. Watching the show, I found myself reflecting on the dying art of newspapers: countless hands shaping each page, only for the finished product to wrap dishes during a move, line a freshly mopped floor, or cover fish at the market.
I’m aware of the biggest difference between the secular news world and our Jewish one: Shabbos. That one day of rest, when we abstain from TVs and phones, ties us to our past—back to a time when ink on paper was gospel. It’s also what has kept our Jewish publications alive while so many others have faded, because there’s one day each week we can’t just turn on Fox News or scroll through endless feeds to get the latest.
Watching the characters in the show develop a sense of pride inspired by a new editor-in-chief, I thought about what it takes for us writers to produce content we’re motivated to write—and that you’re motivated to read. When asked how I keep coming up with things to write about, I usually reply: “Life.”
My journey in this medium has shifted over time—beginning with grief, morphing into parenting this generation, and exploring all the delightful (and chaotic) parts of raising children today. I try to write articles that others can appreciate, maybe even relate to.
So that on that one day, amidst glossy magazines with little connection to our lives, there can be at least one relevant publication that provides genuine enjoyment.
Malkie Gordon Hirsch Magence is a native of the Five Towns community, a mom of five, a writer, and a social media influencer.
