Growing up I always had a book, comic book, newspaper, or magazine in my hand.

I read some of the South Beloit, Rockford, Sycamore, DeKalb, and Mendota education system’s books before I saw them on the syllabus.

I read comics and drew my own before stuffing them in the pages to pass along to my friends.

My first job at 10-years old was delivering the DeKalb Daily Chronicle. Then I added the Chicago Tribune to my route to add funds in my piggy bank.

I bought an autographed Barry Bonds baseball. It was a fake autograph from Wal-Mart, but I had earned every penny, and I was happy I had the ball until it was thrown over my neighbor’s fence by a kid my sister’s aunt who used to babysit. I was grounded for two weeks for punching him in the face.

I bought my first pair of Jordans, any candy I wanted from White Hen and multiple scoops, not just one, at the ice cream shop. I went to the movie theater in downtown Sycamore to watch Lion King and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers so many times I had all of the souvenir cups. Obviously, the White Power Ranger was my favorite.

Plus, I learned how to read the news, understand the news, and accept the importance of what I possessed every day.

It was life.

I had all the sports standings.

The movie schedule.

Cartoons.

Photos of politicians I could draw on.

Obviously, I grew up and the only writing on the newspaper I did was in the crossword, and I actually read the political, environmental, technology stories to know what was going on.

Over the years, I’ve had subscriptions to Game Informer, Sports Illustrated, TIME, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and the Southern Illinoisian.

When it came time to decide what I wanted to do for a career after I had already put two plates, a rod, and eight screws in my left ankle from a bone-headed decision, I thought the less physical and more brainy position would be a go-to.

Why not writing?

Why not see my name in the newspaper like all those I’ve been looking at for all those years?

So, I set on a path to become a writer myself. And since you’re reading this, I guess it’s worked out.

Along the journey through college, a few newspapers, a few magazines, a few blogs, a podcast, a few radio stations, I’ve seen changes.

Styles, what words can be written and what can’t, presentation, and the list goes on, including circulation numbers.

Newspapers, magazines, and radio broadcasts thrived before the internet. Since the virtual, web boom in the early 2000s reader numbers have dipped almost every year and the comments about print being dead or newspapers not being needed became more vibrant.

Of course, I defend, and I’ll continue because there is a need, especially in local communities where no one cares about rural Illinois except the people in the communities like myself, every member of The Amboy News and The Mendota Reporter, the readers, and the advertisers.

Then I read about Sports Illustrated laying off a large number of employees on the spot, and others in 90 days, as the publication of almost 70 years old is over; over as we know it as they plan to continue to have stories but written by AI (artificial intelligence).

This news had to have dampened the aura in every newsroom or broadcast station across the country.

And it should squash the spirits of anyone who enjoys journalism and great stories.

I mean, that’s what we all want to do. That’s why we become writers and that is what has fueled journalism from the beginning of time.

As readers we want to read something done by a professional who is educated to know how to accurately tell a story with the means, justifications, and the connections of the people behind each happening.

But now stories are going to be generated artificially by technology that doesn’t feel, doesn’t have connection, can’t get behind a story or feel the emotion coming from the subject?

How does a young child grow attachment to reading and writing?

How does a young writer find determination or the desire to become an author or a byline when there won’t be professional humans publishing creative work to inspire?

Journalism is my career, so it hits a little harder for someone like me.

But it should hit us all that we’re relying more and more on technology to tell us how to live, and now, tell the stories of how we’re living.