The internet disconnects people from the real world
In a world that runs on instant coffee and is constantly seeking immediate gratification, I suppose it is no surprise that people want their news instantly as well. The Internet has caused people to crave information and news at a moment's notice. It rewards people for keeping up with a world that never stops moving.
The death of the print newspaper is symbolic of the death of interpersonal communication. Letter writing has been replaced with text messaging while face to face communication has been obliterated by e-mail and video chat. The newspaper has been made obsolete by online news outlets. In an October 2009 article, the New York Times reported that in the last six months, newspaper circulation has decreased by more than 10%. The number of newspapers sold a day has fallen to 44 million a day. It has not been this few since the 1940s.
Newspapers used to represent something beautiful. People saw them as a deity bigger than themselves. They used to be symbols of innovation and integrity and progress. Now people just see newspapers as cesspools of bias and corruption or as mere kindling for a campfire.
Online news has also limited the ability of the average reader to discuss, reflect on and communicate about news in an intelligent manner. Message boards and discussion forums are crowded with ignorant and misinformed people who aren't looking for calm, rational discussion. Posts are more often than not devoid of substance. According to the Newspaper Association of America, readers of print newspapers are dominantly of older generations and less likely to be familiar with modern technology.
What is the purpose of keeping up with the news if not to gain insight on events and relate it back to your own life? It is not necessarily the title of the newspaper or the articles within, but the bond that two people share when they discuss the news.
Newspapers help people forge connections to the outside world. The Internet and online news sources cannot do this in the same regard. If anything, the Internet disconnects people from reality. It is a seemingly endless confine of wires and advertisements and Gotcha journalism. The newspaper help people break out of this cycle and empathize with people of other social, political and cultural environments.
In a world that runs on instant coffee and is constantly seeking immediate gratification, I suppose it is no surprise that people want their news instantly as well. The Internet has caused people to crave information and news at a moment's notice. It rewards people for keeping up with a world that never stops moving.
The death of the print newspaper is symbolic of the death of interpersonal communication. Letter writing has been replaced with text messaging while face to face communication has been obliterated by e-mail and video chat. The newspaper has been made obsolete by online news outlets. In an October 2009 article, the New York Times reported that in the last six months, newspaper circulation has decreased by more than 10%. The number of newspapers sold a day has fallen to 44 million a day. It has not been this few since the 1940s.
Newspapers used to represent something beautiful. People saw them as a deity bigger than themselves. They used to be symbols of innovation and integrity and progress. Now people just see newspapers as cesspools of bias and corruption or as mere kindling for a campfire.
Online news has also limited the ability of the average reader to discuss, reflect on and communicate about news in an intelligent manner. Message boards and discussion forums are crowded with ignorant and misinformed people who aren't looking for calm, rational discussion. Posts are more often than not devoid of substance. According to the Newspaper Association of America, readers of print newspapers are dominantly of older generations and less likely to be familiar with modern technology.
What is the purpose of keeping up with the news if not to gain insight on events and relate it back to your own life? It is not necessarily the title of the newspaper or the articles within, but the bond that two people share when they discuss the news.
Newspapers help people forge connections to the outside world. The Internet and online news sources cannot do this in the same regard. If anything, the Internet disconnects people from reality. It is a seemingly endless confine of wires and advertisements and Gotcha journalism. The newspaper help people break out of this cycle and empathize with people of other social, political and cultural environments.
Today’s society values speed and dependability over everything else. While the Internet is very new, relative to the traditional newspaper, there are many benefits to online journalism and news. By no means is this new technique perfect, but it will continue to grow until it surpasses the already aging print newspaper.
ReplyDeleteThe Newspaper Association of America points out that the average age of Americans that read newspapers is much older than in the past. This doesn’t mean that people are less able to communicate with others about news or forge connections in the outside world. According to Stovall, there are many different things that actually draw readers to Internet news over print news. Interactivity, capacity, immediacy, and flexibility are a few of these concepts that attract people to Internet news. If people are being drawn more and more to Internet news, and print news continues to decline, maybe it is simply that people are less interested in the news than they used to be. If this is in fact the case, the problem is then getting people interested in what is being covered, rather than getting a subscription to either online or print outlets.
Instant coffee and immediate gratification do go hand in hand with Internet news and have become innovations that people today rely upon. Newspapers used to be a symbol innovation, integrity and progress; that is until they were surpassed by newer innovations with quicker progress. In today’s society, there is a preference to online communication that has never happened before. This is due to the first generation of adults that has grown up with access to computers. Media outlets have begun to make the transition to digital media, and will soon become the norm. The transition paves the way for a whole new type of journalism. Rather than the death of a deity, I see the birth a new face for journalism.