Spring Break
Buy a newspaper and save a journalist
Alex Sanders
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: Commentary
There is admitted bias in writing this column; it is not because I have my own agenda, but rather because I want to eventually raise children in a world where newspapers exist. A world where I could put a clipping of their awards or achievements on the refrigerator. As the economy is changing, so is journalism - both as a profession and as an everyday occurrence.
Over the years, journalism has changed because of the content it serves to Generation Y with and the public's need for a different type of news. Perhaps one that still tells the listener or viewer what's going on but comes with bells and whistles to keep him entertained.
A student who dreams of being a reporter in our generation needs multiple skills that he or she previously didn't have because the rest was someone else's job. Now, reporters need to learn to shoot and edit video, take good pictures and use new technology on top of reporting and writing. This is all well and good, as luckily old dogs can still learn new tricks, but it is harder than it looks. It is really hard to do it with little motivation.
Obviously the primary motivation is to seek the truth and report it to the millions of ears that are eager to listen; however, the venue has changed a bit and it is harder to really want to write. I may not speak for every journalist out there, but there are certainly many who have dreamt of walking around New York City in a fedora wielding a notebook and press pass to see their breaking news hit newsstands everywhere in print - not on a Web site.
Admittedly, the demographic and the needs of news consumers has changed. But the world is going in a direction where there won't be newspapers in 50 years. When our grandchildren graduate, we are going to be staring at 8.5-by-11-inch sheets of computer paper hanging on the refrigerator. It's just not the same. Computer paper won't yellow in the same way that newsprint does and look ancient and important for their kids to see.
Journalism schools are having problems. Teachers don't know exactly what to tell their students. The New York Times reports that there is a course at Arizona State "where a team built a site for local filmmakers. The purpose of the course, [the professor] says, is to learn to 'invent your own jobs.'" (Because they may have to).
Over the years, journalism has changed because of the content it serves to Generation Y with and the public's need for a different type of news. Perhaps one that still tells the listener or viewer what's going on but comes with bells and whistles to keep him entertained.
A student who dreams of being a reporter in our generation needs multiple skills that he or she previously didn't have because the rest was someone else's job. Now, reporters need to learn to shoot and edit video, take good pictures and use new technology on top of reporting and writing. This is all well and good, as luckily old dogs can still learn new tricks, but it is harder than it looks. It is really hard to do it with little motivation.
Obviously the primary motivation is to seek the truth and report it to the millions of ears that are eager to listen; however, the venue has changed a bit and it is harder to really want to write. I may not speak for every journalist out there, but there are certainly many who have dreamt of walking around New York City in a fedora wielding a notebook and press pass to see their breaking news hit newsstands everywhere in print - not on a Web site.
Admittedly, the demographic and the needs of news consumers has changed. But the world is going in a direction where there won't be newspapers in 50 years. When our grandchildren graduate, we are going to be staring at 8.5-by-11-inch sheets of computer paper hanging on the refrigerator. It's just not the same. Computer paper won't yellow in the same way that newsprint does and look ancient and important for their kids to see.
Journalism schools are having problems. Teachers don't know exactly what to tell their students. The New York Times reports that there is a course at Arizona State "where a team built a site for local filmmakers. The purpose of the course, [the professor] says, is to learn to 'invent your own jobs.'" (Because they may have to).
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