What a difference six days and 6,000 kilometres makes, especially in the business of selling newspapers. On Saturday morning, I woke up at my mom’s place in the Old Mill district of Toronto and plotted a course to the nearest good cup of coffee. While I’ve sampled a few places in The Kingsway and Bloor West Village, the best flat white is found at the Organic Press Café on the corner of Annette Street and Willard Avenue. There’s usually a cyclist or two enjoying a hit of espresso before setting out on their circuit and a couple out for a stroll with their pooch. Coffee in hand, I keep heading east and then cut down toward Bloor Street and the local Circle K convenience shop. No, I’m not in search of a five-litre beverage or a pack of John Player Lights but the weekend papers. 

Picking up a copy of the Toronto Star or The New York Times used to be a rather simple exercise in this stretch of the city but some of the classic, family-owned-and-operated convenience stores have closed down; Book City no longer deals in dailies or even weekend editions so Circle K is the only option. Just inside the front door, to the right, you can find the Toronto Star, WSJ, The Globe and Mail, National Post, The New York Times, The Toronto Sun and FT Weekend. It’s not exactly an outlet that celebrates the beauty of the printed word but as the only game in mom’s part of town it’s a bit of an oasis – most people popping in around 07.30 aren’t after five-litre beverages either, just their favourite trusted source. It also gives a sense of where the sector has ended up. You can commit to a subscription delivered to your door or venture farther afield to get some ink on your fingers.

A week earlier on a grand boulevard in the heart of San Sebastián, at roughly the same time of day, the needs were similar but the retail experience rather different. Open to the street and bursting with periodicals and newspapers from across Spain and Europe, it’s one of the finer examples of class news trading that you’ll find anywhere in the world. It’s the kind of place that still has seven editions of Vogue (not that it matters these days as you largely get the same stories whether it’s the Deutsch or French edition), the lovely Manera, all spin-offs of ¡Hola!, Le Monde diplomatique and a very good special niche – you can buy the previous month’s editions of all your favourite weekend newspaper supplements just in case you missed them. Very clever. 

Behind the counter, the man in charge of the Saturday morning shift knows all of his customers and is doing one thing and doing it very well. There is no wall of vaping products or a Chupa Chups takeover, just the mags and papers that you might want to enjoy with your coffee, take to the beach or save for a quiet moment on Sunday evening. It pains me to say this but it’s an experience to enjoy while you can. There’s a good chance that you already live in a ‘news desert’ (a real industry term for people who have no access to a newsstand or even a Circle K that stocks a few papers) and they’re only expanding. 

During a transit through Abu Dhabi airport a few weeks ago, I wanted to check on the news offer at WHSmith and was alarmed to find that this particular brand had completely exited the print-news business. There was one slim, point-of-sale stand with some titles from a local publisher – but that was it – no Der Spiegel, no The New Yorker, no Monocle. “What exactly were they selling?” you ask. The usual mix of plush toys, device chargers, canned beverages and general Abu-D merch. If you believe in the power of print and feel that it has a place in the media landscape, then take this as a call to action to make sure that you support your remaining kiosks (see our round-up of favourites around the world here). And if you reside in a parched corner of the world for printed-word news then please subscribe to Monocle (becoming part of our global club also helps to finance this gratis newsletter) or whatever title that you feel is missing from your line-up. 

Now off you go, get out there and give your newsagent a little cuddle, pay a visit to your nearby Monocle Shop to grab the latest Konfekt or simply sit back and join from here. Happy week ahead.

To support Monocle’s independent journalism, subscribe today. Alternatively, you can pick up a copy of our bumper July/August issue and the ‘Monocle Mediterraneo’ newspaper online or at your closest remaining newsstand. 

This story originally appeared in The Monocle Minute

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