newsflash

In his article "To Save Themselves, US Newspapers Put Readers to Work," Jeff Howe indicates the rise in popularity of newspapers to increase  reader involvement. This seems to me like an ingenious plan as it not only engages readers in giving them a voice in the process but it also gives them responsibility. In the same way that people love taking surveys, it seems like "putting readers to work" would only encourage yet further readership. At least on a local level, it would create further community and feelings of pride and citizenship as well.

The article "Goodbye to Newspapers?" by Russell Baker speaks to the problems of management and ownership plaguing the world of journalism. Considering I know little about the upper level management of newspapers, I found Baker's explication of the intricacies of journalism and ownership detailed and insightful. Baker raised an interesting point about the increasing disconnect between the press and the public, which addresses the question of a journalist's role. Because the world is becoming more and more dependent on technology and quicker ways of getting information, the journalist may simply be another biased voice in the chorus of opinions attempting to portray the truth of current events.

In James Surowiecki's article "News You Can Lose," the author describes newspapers as a "once great business eclipsed by a new technology" -- that technology being the internet, of course. It seems like while on the one hand, there is a sentimental and comfortable satisfaction involved in picking up a local paper to accompany my cup of coffee in the morning, there is also an unbelievably attractive draw to the convenience and ease with which I can read about all of the world's happenings through Google News. In this constantly developing world that never ceases to cater to Americans' beck and call, everything needs to be running at the same pace, so it makes sense that newspapers are struggling. I think, though, that there is hope for local papers because they represent community in a physical compilation of stories and images that the internet cannot quite replicate; I'm hoping the nostalgia of a time where you read about your neighbors will keep the local newspapers around for awhile.