Transition from Newspapers: Step Forward, Step Backward, Step Onward

A piece of our souls is dying. Usage of our American freedom of the press is transitioning from printed texts to online sources. Will the world ever be the same?

Our newspapers, stretching back to t he first in 1704, have become a piece of history. We read the business section, CUE, politics, sports, and the funnies. It never ceases to tickle us when we settle down with a hot cup of Joe and curl up in the Lay-Z-Boy in the morning. But that cup of Joe is being carried to the swiveling computer seat instead.

This is more than a game of musical chairs. People are afraid credibility and substance from printed articles are transitioning out as well. The Internet is a free-for-all. People cough whatever they want onto it. Some of the texts can be called citizen journalism, but much of it bears the stamp of being a load of crap. Internet texts often lack editing, background checks on sources, journalistic ethics, and objectivity.

The whole dilemma brings me back to high school and writing a research paper about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Wikipedia was not, repeat, was NOT an acceptable source. A MAXIMUM of TWO Internet sources could be used, and multiple library texts were required. The lists of restrictions regarding the Internet went on. My teacher obviously feared the rise of of the Internet as a research aid and feared the negligence of the high school library. People fear the Internet because it is loaded with self-published articles, blogs, and information. People fear the truth is watered down or simply lost in the flood of it all. There is no denying the plethora of hogwash makes reading Internet articles a hassle. But if you know how to read it, there is the solution.

What it boils down to is proper usage and people being accountable for themselves and what they read. Media literacy is a must in this world where publishing is no longer an issue. "Don't believe everything you see on television," your mother advised when you were younger. She'll soon be saying the same about the Internet. But despite the downturns of the Internet, it opens a world of possibilities for media writing as well. Smaller target markets can be reached, and individuals can be addressed. Citizens can participate with their news sources, and give questions and comments when before, it would largely be taken "as is."

Newspapers will always be a piece of our history. Their professional production gives us something solid to hold onto, and we do not have to filter to find reliable information. But for the media literate, the Internet is a practical source as well. Clay Shirky made an excellent point on his weblog Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable. "Society doesn't need newspapers. What we need is journalism," he said. It isn't how you read it, it's what you read. Stepping away from the newspaper is not a step backward. It is stepping onward.