The microfilm reader hummed quietly as I wound through another reel of newspapers. The university library’s basement archive room smelled of dust and aging paper, a scent I’d grown oddly fond of during my research into the evolution of digital communication.
That’s when I saw it—an obituary that made me stop the scrolling screen. I leaned in closer and adjusted the focus knob. The obit chronicled how Above the Fold, a once-essential concept regarding the physical placement of stories above the literal fold in a newspaper, had finally passed on. The term originated from the way broadsheet newspapers were displayed at newsstands, folded in half horizontally. Any story placed above this fold line was prime territory, guaranteed to catch readers’ eyes.
Reading this farewell felt like unearthing a fossil—a perfectly preserved reminder of how physical limitations once shaped how organizations communicate with their audiences. The concept now feels as dated as microfilm itself.
Yet as I sat in the dim archive room, I couldn’t help but feel a connection to those days of limited space in communication. After all, the challenge of how we capture attention in an increasingly crowded information landscape remains. The obituary I found, which I’ve shared below, illuminates the constant evolution of how we consume and prioritize information.
Sometimes you have to look back to see how far you’ve come, and to appreciate the ghosts that still shape our world today. Rest in power, Above the Fold.
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