The Newspaper: A Sad Slow Death...

It is quite a sad sight watching the newspaper industry slowly decay and die. It's crazy to think that a medium that was so important and respected in the last century to be fading so quickly in this century. Yes now we have the internet and it's seemingly instantaneous and endless supply of news seems to be a great wonder. But, so often information found online is inaccurate or not a complete story. Those stories are often placed on pages with big headlines only to disappear just as quickly as it came. This ability to correct mistakes at a moments notice and leaving no trace of that gaffe seems to me like an environment for irresponsibility. Of course newspapers have made their share of errors in their long history (i.e. "Dewey Defeats Truman")but for a paper there is more at stake if they make an error because they can not simply erase it and move on. Their article becomes part of the public record and can't be simply wiped from the face of the earth because thousands of copies are everywhere. The newspaper's tangibility not only increases its incentive to be accurate but also allows the reader to better connect with the stories.

There is a certain connection between a story you hold in your hand than one that only lasts for moments on a computer screen. Being able to physically manipulate the pages and smell the ink turns reading the news into something more memorable and personal. Whereas reading the news online is much the same as playing a game online. It is easier to trivialize or depersonalize something found online, than in a newspaper. Because so much of what we experience on our computers is simply a game or some other form of entertainment. But the news is real things happening to real people and having something tangible helps us realize that fact.