FILE - Jess Cadwallender makes his rounds delivering the last afternoon edition of The Free Lance-Star Friday, June 12, 1998, in Fredericksburg, Va. (William Helton Jr./The Free Lance-Star via AP, File)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — For decades, a carveout in New York’s child labor laws allowed kids as young as 11 to legally partake in the time-honored tradition of a paper route.
Flipping papers into suburban hedges, bicycling through snow squalls, dodging dogs and getting stiffed for tips became a rite of passage for generations of youths.
But a change to the law quietly made via the state budget this month makes clear the job is now not allowed for anyone under 14 years old. The move was first reported by Politico.
The change comes even though paper boys and girls have mostly gone the way of phone booths, mimeograph machines and their urban “newsie” forebears who shouted “Extra! Extra!” on street corners.
While many teens used to take on paper routes as after-school jobs, that became rarer decades ago as more daily newspapers switched to early morning deliveries. Newspapers are now increasingly online and tend to rely on adults with cars to make home deliveries, according to industry watchers.
“The need for a workforce of kids to go throwing newspapers on stoops is just a thing of the past,” said attorney Allan Bloom, an employment law expert with the Proskauer firm.
Lawmakers made the change as part of a broader update of child labor laws. Bloom likened it to a “cleanup” as lawmakers streamlined the process for employing minors and increased penalties for violating child labor laws.
Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association, said she was not aware of any newspapers in New York using youth carriers.
Christopher Page recalled buying his first guitar on earnings from a paper route started in the late ’70s in suburban Clifton Park, north of Albany.
“I just had a 10-speed that I destroyed,” said Page. “It was truly rain or shine, I’m out there riding the bike. Or even in the winter, I would still ride the bike in the snow through all the potholes and the ice.”
When dogs chased him on his bike, Page would ward them off with his shoulder bag full of newspapers.
At age 13, Jon Sorensen delivered the Syracuse Herald-American on Sunday with his 11-year old brother in the Finger Lakes town of Owasco from the back of their mother’s Chevy station wagon.
“That was back when papers were papers — a lot of sections and a lot of weight,” recalled Sorensen, now 68 and Kennedy’s partner. “I can remember trudging through the snow. ... I don’t think I ever dropped one, because if you did you had to be heading back to the car and pick up another copy.”
Sorensen stayed in the newspaper business as an adult, covering state government and politics for papers including New York Daily News and The Buffalo News.
“The hardest part of the job wasn’t delivering the paper, it was collecting,” Sorensen recalled. “It wasn’t always easy to get people to pay up.”
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.
