We're dying off, but....
back when Chicago had four daily newspapers, (Tribune, Chicago American (or Herald-American), Sun-Times, and Daily News) the Daily News readers were among the best proof-readers/scanners in the Country.
The paper would consistently (not regularly, not occasionally--consistently) jump from the middle of one sentence to another from a paragraph four or five lines down, continue for a while, then jump back up. No pattern, just consistently inconsistent.
It got so one was never irritated by the interruption in the reading flow, you just started scanning down until you found what seemed to be a logical connection to your previous reading, and continued on.
And spelling...hah...don't gimme no spell-check buckeroo...we were masters at interpretation, but in fairness, it was not as big a problem as the paragraph jumble.
I recall this, and the skill level of full-sized newspaper readers, standing on a moving "EL" (elevated) train during Rush hour, folding and refolding their papers so they could read while holding the paper in one hand while hanging on to the grab posts with the other. I could never accomplish the skill and so marveled at these urban masters of daily newspaper origami. I think the full sheet ended up folded in thirds from left to right, and halves from top to bottom.
The halcyon days of Royko and de Mare.
