Are newspapers a dying breed? It would seem so. As we've discussed in class and as chapter 4 in your textbook points out, traditional newspapers are fighting to survive and implementing new technologies to meet the needs of a new generation of readers who are more likely to get their news from an iPod or cell phone. On the other hand, journalism itself isn't dying. Only its mode of delivery is changing and adapting. Click here to read a bit more about the trend.
Meanwhile the trend of citizen journalism is also here to stay. As we saw in the For Neda documentary, ordinary citizens, as well as journalists, were able to use cell phones and social networking sites like Twitter to report news that would have otherwise been suppressed by the Iranian government.
While the digital revolution has enabled us to have incredible opportunities and resources at our fingertips, it has also spawned problematic trends. How, for example, do we sift through it all? How will people know the difference between legitimate news sources and biased or unsupported propaganda? How will people be able to make informed decisions?
NBC anchorman Brian Williams summed it up well: "It is now possible--even common--to go about your day in America and consume only what you wish to see and hear. There are television networks that already agree with your views, iPods that play only music you already know you like, Internet programs ready to filter out all but the news you want to hear . . . The whole notion of 'media' is now much more democratic, but what will the effect be on democracy?"
One final note: as the media commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, it's interesting to reflect on how much technology has changed in the past decade and how social media has impacted journalism. Click here to read an interesting article about how coverage of the catastrophic events of that day would likely be different today.
Creative Commons photo: Newspaper stands by Miriam Mollerus
I think that newspapers are not dying, but we are just seeing them in a new way. For example, instead of actually reading the paper, people can just go online and read it. The only difference is that it's not on paper anymore. I think in the future all newspapers will be online. With the internet though there are so many places to get information but one of the ways you can get accurate information is by going online and reading the newspaper articles. News organizations have to get the facts right before they post an article so people would know that the information is correct. People could also make informed decisions by reading the articles. SO, newspapers, I believe, will continue online and will become an important source of information for people.
ReplyDeleteI think that newspapers will keep decreasing over time and eventually die out but this will not happen over night. I think it will take a long time for the newspapers to go.
ReplyDeleteI think that newspapers will eventually go out of print, but they mat continue to exist online. The news will remain, but it will have to change as the world changes. I know that I would miss printed newspapers, particularly on days when something of exceptional historic interest happened, because I collect historic newspapers.
ReplyDeleteI believe we cannot afford to eliminate newspapers all together. As Eileen says above, they will only change in format. The internet has become one of the leading sources of information, and because of so many people relying on it,it will become even bigger and better in the future. I hope with all of my heart that newspapers will live on because I am one of those newspaper fanatics who will believe in it no matter what :)
ReplyDeleteI think that is very important that people are kept up to date on what is going on in their own location as well as around the world that we can not exclude newspapers.I think that eventually, local newspapers will only be online due to technology. So many people find it more convenient to pull up the newspaper on their computer or on a Kindle. However, I feel that more popular newspapers, such as the New York Times, will be made in paper copies for a longer time period because they have more readers. I do feel that it won't be much longer before newspapers aren't delivered to homes anymore, due to a lot of people reading them online.
ReplyDeleteA newspaper is such a comfort and symbol of a home to me. I grew up having my parents read my city's Observer and the Detroit Free Press everyday. In fact, my best friend and I were "papergirls" for my city. I never imagined it could become extinct, and only realized this possibility in this journalism class. Thinking about not having a newspaper is crazy! Adults read it, kids use it for paper mache, art projects, and grow up with it. I understand that the internet is a tough competitor for a newspaper, because it's continually growing in the news aspect, but having a physical source of news just seems more pleasant to me. I hope one day when I settle down I will have the opportunity to be subscribed to a newspaper or two. (:
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to consider that consumers have not rejected the idea of receiving a variety of news and opinion at a one stop shop, like a newspaper, but they have come to expect the news coverage immediately. When I was a kid we too got the Free Press daily, but I lived in mid-Michigan. That meant I never got to read a newspaper report of an night sports event. Essentially, the news had stopped happening for me at about 5pm the day before. I love the virtually immediate access to news, but that sure puts tremendous pressure on young journalists like you to get it fast and get it right. Plus you may be expected to engage with your readers through Twitter and the like.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was a newspaper man all his life, including being editor at a major paper. My dad has said he would "roll over in his grave" if he saw what had happened to newspapers. I'm not so sure. He was very creative and I think he would have loved the multimedia and the vast reach of digital news. I know this for sure, he sure would approve of this blog and the experiences that Mrs. Waldsmith will give you.
I think that printed papers will eventually die out, but I don't think that newspapers will die out completely. But it does make it easier to access old newspapers. Instead of hunting through a stack of papers or searching through the microfiche, you can simply type in a few keywords.
ReplyDeleteI think that newspapers will continue to focus more and more on their digital aspect in the coming years. Our generation has grown up being very comfortable with reading on screens, something that often annoys readers who are used to a physical copy of the news. My family subscribes to the Detroit Free Press and the New York Times so I love the history and feeling of a newspaper, but I think the gradual decline will continue.
ReplyDeleteI believe that yes, the traditional newspaper will eventually not be around. Unfortunately for me I would rather hold the newspaper and read it in my hands than on a computer screen. Even though I do not prefer the online newspapers I can see their advantages. They allow anyone to contribute to the news, and make it easy to find and see. Although the newspaper may not exist I'm happy to know that there will be an easily accessible alternative.
ReplyDeleteI think that newspapers aren't really dying, just changing their format to fit the demand in modern times. Unfortunately, this may mean that at some point news will no longer be available in the paper form we all know and love. Personally, if this happens in my lifetime I'm going to be disappointed; I am comforted by the familiarity of curling up with a newspaper. However, the number of comments that have expressed this "pro-paper" view may indicate that the demand is shifting, so it might be a long time until we depend totally on the Internet for our news.
ReplyDeleteCitizen journalism, especially when it contains messages as powerful as those of "For Neda", has its pros and cons. The advantage is getting the inside story from a direct source, and the future of Iran will probably be totally different as a result of citizen journalism. However, as citizen journalism continues to grow, people may find it difficult to differentiate between the facts and the personal bias or opinion of the news source.
I do think that the news 'papers' are taking a downward turn, so far that in maybe even a few decades, most people will probably not read the paper anymore. I also think that Newspapers now will tend to focus more on their digital aspects and websites in the coming years more so than the printed version. I don't think that the actual paper will go anywhere for a while, at least in our lifetime, since a lot of our generation already reads the paper. Even if a few of the big papers go out, I feel like a few will stay true to the printed method, just as long as there are people who will read it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the new generation tends to turn more to the online papers, while the older generation is used to having a hard copy of the news. Although I believe newspapers will always be around, I believe they will start to become a weekly or monthly editions instead of the normal daily news. There are enough people in the younger generations that enjoy hard copy news that I believe a weekly/ monthly newspaper will always be able to exist.
ReplyDeleteMy household went newspaper free years ago. I've just been relying on the internet for my news, which has been just fine for my family. As more and more households do the same as us though, I'm afraid that many of the newspapers are going completely online. This means that in order to make a profit, these companies are going to have to charge people to access their website, as some have already done. That is going to take a huge toll on journalism. When I hear about something that has happened, the first thing I do is look it up and read as many articles that I can on the internet about it. How are the newspaper companies charging going to affect this? Not having access to as many sources online for information is going to limit our ability to have an infinite amount of information ready at our fingertips. This will also limit our ability to research. If some one wanted to research a specific event, he or she would be limited to just a few sources for their information. I do think making the switch to the internet is going to impact journalism greatly.
ReplyDeleteI think that news will always be prevalent in people's lives. But I agree with the fact that people now a days are more likely to get their news from a website or an e edition of a news paper. This is because it is easier to access news and it is available 24/7 and it is constantly updated.
ReplyDeleteI think newspapers will die out eventually, but not for a while yet. I believe there are still enough people in the world who grew up reading hard copies of newspapers, or just enjoy reading from paper instead of some type of electronic device. However, as our world becomes more and more technology-oriented, people's lives get more fast-paced and busy. This is where reading news from a computer or other device comes in handy. People can get the news quickly, and topics are updated almost immediately after they happen. Obviously, receiving news electronically has become very popular. It is great in the reasons I mentioned above, but it also allows many more people to post what they think is "news." I think it will become more tricky to separate the real facts from gossip and exaggerations as news becomes even more computer-orientated. This will probably lead to confusion on subjects, as people might be mislead with some information they read.
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