According to a study conducted by a team of neuroscientists at Columbia University’s Teachers College, “deeper reading” takes place on paper—not on screens.

And Harper’s Magazine is nothing if not a publication that requires deep engagement. (We’re not against anyone reading our superb reporting, essays, and fiction on their computer screen or their phone; there are different ways to absorb a text.)

I can’t argue with my own experience, and I certainly wouldn’t argue with Dr. Karen Froud’s Teachers College research group, as well as numerous social scientists, on the superiority of reading comprehension and retention on paper. But there’s another important reason behind our commitment to print. The publishing business is being devoured by the monopolistic piracy of Big Tech, especially Google and Facebook. These behemoths effectively steal everything we publish, sell it against advertising, and share none of their revenue with the authors, editors, and publishers that created the sentences, paragraphs, and articles that you read. For now—at least until the government or the courts act decisively—the only aspects of publishing that Google and Facebook have yet to control are the paper supply, the post office, and our wonderful printer in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

As we get ready to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, let’s not forget Benjamin Franklin, who was a staunch defender of a free press and a revolutionary; the first postmaster general; and a Philadelphia printer with great scientific insight. Though he was no technophobe, I’m positive that Franklin would have fought to cut Big Tech down to size. Subscribing to our print magazine is an important way to help the cause.