Week 2 Assignment

Anthony Semler
Week 2 Assignment
6/2/09

After reading the articles for this assignment it seems as if the writers have a lot of the same opinions about why there has been a tremendous decline in the buying and reading of newspapers, as well as the decline in watching television shows that broadcast daily news/events. It's obvious that the Internet is responsible for the major decline. Other than the internet, another reason for the decline is the information provided by newspapers and television is a lot of times not the truth but what they think the reader/watcher want to read/hear. I grew up in time where if you weren’t getting your information from the newspapers then you would obtain it from television or the radio. Internet wasn’t really something that I had at my fingertips (literally) to try and find information about what’s going on in the world. The use of Internet has changed the way that most of us are living our lives. The Internet is something that is being used in so many different ways that it has become a part of the world’s social outlook. For example communicating isn’t done just by telephone; you now have email, chat rooms, blogging, twitter, etc… Not only is there more ways to communicate it is a means of FREE communication. Along with being free it is also the FASTEST way for people to obtain the information they seek. We as Americans are the highest contributor to this movement. If we would stay in the Stone Age and not begin to use the Internet/Cellular phones as a means of communication, whether it is for news or pleasure, then we would not be developing ourselves as a leading country. Therefore in a way I agree, why would you read a paper or watch a television show that is either going to give you the news late or give it to you in a way they see fit as opposed to the truth. My opinion about the decline in readership being cyclical or a linear trend is that we are most likely headed down a linear path. I can see the trend coming back around like it has in years past, but if the economy is going to dictate whether or not newspapers will again rise as the main means of information, at this point I am fairly sure it will be a linear trend. On the other hand the economy may not have any influence on whether the newspaper will arise again. If you think about it our technology, it is getting better and better every day so to think that newspapers will be the main source of information is probably absurd. With children using the Internet and cellular phone services as their main means of communicating, I can see newspapers becoming less of a factor in people’s main means of information. I know that when and if I have kids they will be raised around the newest technologies so that they aren’t feeling lost in the dark quite like I feel from time to time. These assignments however hard for me are also quite educating considering what it is we are trying to achieve!



http://www.thesimon.com/magazine/articles/canon_fodder/01032_pulitzer_legacy__decline_print_america.html
http://akinokure.blogspot.com/2008/09/decline-of-print-journalism.html
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/6167