Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The (Bleak) Future
Blogging has grown exponentially in the recent years, and is even now creeping it's way into classrooms. Our class discussions on it's growth and the shrinking of libraries has gotten me thinking a lot about my father's profession and it's utter lack of a future in paper form. The newspaper industry. He is the sports content editor of The Commercial Appeal, and though it sounds like a secure job, no one is safe in this industry. With the vast majority of readers getting free news on the internet, the need for a hard-copy of a newspaper has all but vanished. I have always wanted to get into journalism, but with the recent changes, staffs are being reduced, no new writers are being hired, and some random Joe who writes a sports blog once a week is making more than all but the top of the paper. I admit, the new technology and the ways to gather information is handy, but an America with no newspapers? Now that's just scary to me. Images of a child standing on the street corner screaming, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" will never be echoed again if this trend continues. Granted that probably hasn't been said in years anyway, but the possibility remains. The technology is great, but we can't forget our roots.
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1 comment:
I quite agree. Newspapers have been really important. However, when I came to Memphis there were 2 papers. The Press Scimitar was a great evening paper. When the CA gobbled it up, it thought it had a monopoly and acted accordingly. In the process it alienated a lot of us. I have always been amazed by the name of our paper: The Commercial Appeal. No pretense here. This is about commerce not necessarily about news or protecting the civic commons, or creating community or any of the other many roles the newspaper has historically performed.
I miss the Press Scimitar. I had the Tribune in LA and many cities have other newspapers with sweet names that suggest more than an ambition to be a shoppers guide with news. It may be an illusion as all newspapers live on advertisements. I have been a life long newspaper reader. My morning coffee won't taste the same without the ink i get on my fingers when I read and drink coffee.
But we are probably moving into a day when the morning paper will be like morning milk delivery. You won't remember that, but we used to get our milk delivered each morning, right to our door.
But blogs may be the wave of the future. Have you seen the wiki newspapers? Check out wetpaint.com
see a collaboratively developed newsletter.
Good post.
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