It has become clear in the last two or three years that news reporting and gathering is, while much harder on the 24 hour news-cycle gatherers, much easier on the companies footing the bill to release the news. Blogging communities have taken over what only a few specialized groups were capable of, and thats providing the public with news stories ranging from soft news features to hard news, breaking stories. From Pitchfork Media, which covers music stories in the vein of Rolling Stone, to Huffington Post, an aggregate company which compiles news stories dawning on leftist ideals, journalists and their superiors have been able to cut their capital exponentially, and with convenient results. Perhaps the newest of these capital cut backs comes from the Post Intelligencer, a local newspaper out of Seattle, Wa, which in March of this year, put an end to its daunting 146 year career. The Post Intelligencer is just one of many print papers playing the victim to a technological advance too beneficial to pass up, and it is by the estimation of many that the P-I will soon be remembered as a precursor to the untimely...wait, timely demise, of print journalism. As an aspiring journalist, it is somewhat painful to see my dream job crushed under the unforgiving thumb of a dwindling economy. However at the same time, it is extremely exciting to see what the future of journalism holds for its devout employees, and to find myself at a budding junction in the industry is even more exciting.
For more information on the death of the Post Intelligencer, refer to...
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/post-mortem/Content?oid=1178019
For more information on aggregate news sites, and the realized threat they pose to big print media, refer to...
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090406/1515164406.shtml
Wow - you truly believe that print journalism will be nothing more than a fad? Not everyone in the world has a computer. Print journalism still reaches an audience in some form...not necessarily only in English either. When you pubish something in "ink", it has to have proof that it is true or else it becomes a basis for a lawsuit. Online papers are still a form of print journalism. Blogging is not. It does not require truth or proof thereof, print journalism does.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase, 'online papers are still a form of print journalism' is an oxymoron. And furthermore, its the world of print journalism thats dying, not the craft itself. The world of print journalism is completely different, and will continue to change until it has no remnants of its former self. And lastly, just because a story is on paper as opposed to online, does not grant it validity, Glass and Blair are proof positive of that.
ReplyDeleteCan i just say that your page looks very well put together. After reading yours and reading the other comments that have been poster in regards to your blog, it sounds like this is going to be one page i will be interested to keep following up on because it looks like your not afraid to speak your mind even if it stirs things up. Good luck, Jamie
ReplyDeleteI never thought we'd see the day especially with commuting and what not where a hard copy is necessary, but over the last year I have seen the Chicago Tribune redesign it's layout to make you want to cancel a subscription and my Sunday LA times is so thin I ask myself is it worth it?
ReplyDeleteHard copies aren't necessary. In fact, they're rather inconvenient, bulky, and costly. I read CNN's stories on my phone on the bus ride to work, daily. CNN, Huffington Post, Stereogum, amongst others. Conversely, while at work, I see people buy newspapers and then leave them on the table after they've finished their meal and left; given the fact that a newspaper serves little to no purpose after one reads all the stories.
ReplyDelete