This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
For decades, this was the sound of mornings in America, millions of people waking up to the thud of a newspaper on their front step.
But increasingly, this sounds quaint.
Even long time subscribers, the people who love the feel of a newspaper in their hands as they sip their morning coffee.
Many have decided to cancel.
I used to get the Denver Post delivered even after it was online.
I just liked having the paper.
But then I found I wasn't actually reading it.
It would just kind of pile up and I'd recycle it.
So I let that lapse.
Denver used to have two vibrant morning papers.
In the last few years, many residents stopped getting a local paper.
Some switched to reading online.
Others never had a subscription in the first place.
I've never subscribed to a local publication.
I usually just get the free ones.
Like westward westward, the free one that comes out in the little red bins all over Denver.
Love the coupons.
That's what I wanted the paper for, is the coupons.