What is black and white and dead all over? Unfortunately, soon enough it may be the newspaper. More and more people are now accessing online newspaper websites to find out what’s going on in the world rather than reading the hard copy. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last printed newspaper edition Tuesday, and then permanently switched over to an online only news source. Making history, the Seattle newspaper is the largest American newspaper to make this change so far.
Our society is becoming lazy. Sure it’s a lot easier to type in a URL to look up the news, but what about the old-school people who like to physically hold the newspaper and read it? For instance, I think my mom is technologically challenged. She barely knows how to work her own cell phone, let alone a computer. So if the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel decided to just be available on the Web, what would she do? She would be heartbroken without her daily crossword puzzle and not being able to rant about whatever is in the news that day!
It is also worth to point out that what if someone does not own a computer. Yeah it’s hard to believe, but there are people out there that do not find them necessary. Also, if all newspapers did decide to become online news sources only, what would happen if the internet was down? No one would be able to know what was going on in the news! The internet isn’t always reliable.
The end of print editions of the newspaper could effect journalists strongly. Because news is available online, people expect to know what’s going on every second of the day. This means journalists are going to have to spend a lot more time being available to get all of the aspects of the stories right when it happens. A lot of journalists cherish their time to get their article done within a day.
Our society is becoming lazy. Sure it’s a lot easier to type in a URL to look up the news, but what about the old-school people who like to physically hold the newspaper and read it? For instance, I think my mom is technologically challenged. She barely knows how to work her own cell phone, let alone a computer. So if the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel decided to just be available on the Web, what would she do? She would be heartbroken without her daily crossword puzzle and not being able to rant about whatever is in the news that day!
It is also worth to point out that what if someone does not own a computer. Yeah it’s hard to believe, but there are people out there that do not find them necessary. Also, if all newspapers did decide to become online news sources only, what would happen if the internet was down? No one would be able to know what was going on in the news! The internet isn’t always reliable.
The end of print editions of the newspaper could effect journalists strongly. Because news is available online, people expect to know what’s going on every second of the day. This means journalists are going to have to spend a lot more time being available to get all of the aspects of the stories right when it happens. A lot of journalists cherish their time to get their article done within a day.
It’s sad to think that newspapers are going out of fashion. It’s especially sad when you think about how hard people in the past worked on inventing the newspaper. Physically having a hard copy allows a person to refer back to it throughout the day wherever. It’s easily transportable, versus carrying a computer around. Don’t let the newspaper die!
I don't that you have to worry about the Sentinel croaking anytime soon. Yes, it's true that the newspaper industry is on the way out, but as long as there are people without computers or computer literacy, I think papers will still be just as easily accessible. It's not a matter of fashion, as much as it is economics. Part of the reason the Intelligencer died was because of the recession. When things turn around on Wall Street, I wouldn't be surprised if the Intelligencer went back into print.
ReplyDeleteIndustries must change with time. It's a simple tenant of economics. It's not as easy as merely preventing something from dying. If a product is no longer commercially viable, no longer practical, it should die. The face of journalism must change in order for it to go on.