Oh, Mercy! How Do We Save The Poor Newspapers?
by It’s an issue that is easy to see, that doesn’t get much news. Maybe because nobody cares. “The Journalism Crisis” is spawning conferences all over the world — attended by middle-aged cigar-smoking white males who have lost touch with what a newspaper is supposed to be.
The baby boomers are retiring and — based upon my own independent study — shall be the last generation to desire en masse to hold a paper newspaper in their hands.
The “blogosphere”, as they call it, shows that younger people are not unwilling to learn the news. They are just as much news junkies as the older ones. But those same younger people view a paper publication as a physical homework assignment left on your doorstep; a silent accuser of wastefulness to those who do not read every page, every day. And it can’t be browsed or indexed or skimmed nearly as easily as a web page. And you can’t carry the last two weeks worth of newspapers around inside your phone.
Newspapers aren’t going anywhere; they just won’t be paper anymore. To remain popular, articles will have to be shorter, yet more deeply and comprehensively linked to other related material.
Some folks think of print journalism in terms of the stereotypical “newspaperman” of the film noir era, usually some young go-getter with the nickname “Scoop”. But those guys have all gotten old now in our minds; they’re portly, poorly groomed, with a pork-pie hat, hideous wardrobe, 50-pound typewriter, foul-smelling cigar, belligerently jutting their chins into your business. He’s that mad, disheveled old uncle whom you don’t trust with the children. (Not necessarily even close to reality, but in our imaginations.) At the same time, television “journalists” are no longer serious “newsmen” either; they are pop-stars and actors — caricatures of themselves. Dorothy Fuldheim’s halcyon days are gone forever (bless her heart), and that may not be a bad thing.
A journalism degree is finally seen for what it is: a license to pester. Nobody believes anymore that a young journalist is doing this out of a driving feeling that “the public has a right to know”. He does it because it’s an easy living, and sex and violence and death is entertainment.
An online publication doesn’t have the cushy, predictable existence that papers used to have. It must either be engaging or die. Instead of one or two papers in your town, there are a thousand online blogs… a million… a billion.
If you’re a newspaper journalist, your customer doesn’t want your opinion. He’s already drowning in a billion Internet opinions. He wants either provable fact, or fantastic nonsensical entertainment. “14 Minority Nuns Die In Bus Wreck”, and “I Married Bigfoot’s UFO-Baby!”
Newspapers won’t disappear; they’ll just have to get a new face. In much the same way, journalism won’t disappear; it’ll just have to change its underwear.
Dr. Brewer’s writings have appeared in dozens of publications, including his own site. His years as a teacher and engineer have given opportunity to help people rediscover the magical, liberating power of the words, “no” and “why”.
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