Category | Op Ed

Blogs, bytes and appeal: The fate of print journalism in the age of instant media

Published on February 26, 2008 by The Sentinel

    As people working at a newspaper, there are some obvious questions
arising, that challenge the future of the profession and, to some
degree, these questions have spread to the other professions that our
peers are pursuing.

    As journalists, we exist as ethical, hardworking observers of the world. We bring information to people that will allow them to live their lives competently and to make informed choices. The advent of radio, and then television, placed print journalists in an uncertain position, but those other mediums had a positive impact on the field as a whole. Each reinforces the others, and print journalists have managed over the years to keep the profession vibrant. Then came the internet.

     With the internet, the substance of news media may be better or worse, but it certainly will never be the same. The internet is by no means a horrible thing; imagine facing your daily tasks: jobs, communication or research, without it. When considering the hours upon hours invested researching stories before the internet, it’s safe to say we’re all better off with this “flattening” and connecting of the world.

    But there is no denying the implications created for the future of our profession. Increasing efforts by newspapers and magazines to keep readers have led to a war to lower the price of obtaining our work. As so much news can be found online today, what incentive does any savvy person have to pick up a newspaper, and get their hands coated with ink? Especially when the answer to lowering the cost of print media has largely been increasing the advertising,—inundating unsuspecting readers with ads for products, ideas and people—it is discouraging. (Not to mention, the advertisers will usually have an agenda of their own to present to the reader, putting newspapers and magazines in slippery ethical situations when they are doing their “free press” thing.)

    The combination of this discouraging situation and the internet’s increasing importance as a source for news and information leaves print media with new and frightening questions to face. If we are seeing readers flee to other sources, we are going to have to make a change, and embrace our new, somewhat deflated position as a public forum. We are no longer the all-powerful old media, controlling the flow of information. Citizen journalists and independent news websites have created a new platform, allowing more people than ever to participate.

    This is not always a good thing—even though the playing field is leveled in theory, these ordinary people still do not have the resources, navigation skills and connections or the education in interviewing, ethics and protocol to the kind of hard journalism the public still needs.

    So, we have noticed that our readers have a considerably large number of news sources vying for their attention and loyalty. Which newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television stations and websites should a person use as his default references? What can print journalists do to make their media a mainstay, ensuring that it does not disappear entirely?

    In the era of “drive-by news”—getting very brief information about so many news stories that you end up knowing very little about any one thing—we need to be digging deeper and asking things that digital media doesn’t have the time to ask, with its second-by-second account of the world today. We archaic people who still print our words on paper willingly admit that we are not the first to report on anything extremely significant that happens in our world today—there’s no way we can break news before the 24-hour news channels do. But we can provide a depth of substance that stories need. We can give readers a snapshot of context that might, maybe, help you make sense of the world. We can provide a bit of the humanity that is so lacking in the era of digital existence.

    We must prove our sustainability. With all the talk of ecological sustainability, the term might slide right past your ears, too often associated with political and environmental issues. But this word is also what will determine where media is headed. If we continue to operate more like businesses than proponents of free speech and the proliferation of ideas, we will lose our footing and disappear faster than the newest model of the iPod. If we hold too tightly to the support of advertisers, sponsors and corporate owners, we will be too close to the hand that feeds to ask the really biting questions.

    On a larger scale, this same sustainability is an issue for professions across American society—do not kid yourself in thinking that the terrain of your future is going to look like your parents,’ or even like that of your older siblings. The internet, technological advances and globalization have made the world a smaller place. And that shrinkage is giving more young go-getters more opportunities than ever before. Picture a football field half the size, with twice the players. Our generation must hold our footing harder than ever, just to maintain the success we’ve had so far. And this is, honestly, a good dose of our own medicine; a reality check for the kids who thought they could nonchalantly replace their fathers and mothers, with little-to-no effort.

    The challenge of the world playing field ensures that we will not become outdated and stuffy, presumptuous in assuming that we can remain the same and maintain our status. Just in the way print journalists cannot kid themselves in thinking they’re the most-referred to media, the sustainability of professions across the board faces a challenge with the coming era. However, only the weak are afraid of fair competition.

     That era also contains the potential to bring us more opportunity than we’ve ever had before. All that remains is the question of how we handle ourselves in this monumental moment in media history. Our future is delicate and frightening—and could prove good or bad for each student in higher education. The only sure thing is that the status quo has changed.