As newspaper sales decrease drastically, newspaper web site audiences are increasing rapidly. Tim Arango of the New York Times writes, “At 395 daily newspapers, weekday circulation declined 7.1% for the sixth months that ended March 31, compared with the previous year”. (New York Times) Many of these declines are a direct result of the business effort to reduce unprofitable distribution adopted by the papers. Several papers have also raised their rates and eliminated discounts in an attempt to maintain their key, long-term customers.
Internet news has had a great impact on the fall of the traditional newspaper format. In the fast pace society which we live in, individuals are constantly searching for expedited means of obtaining information. The internet allows for the instant stream of information throughout the world. Previous generations learned about current events through a morning delivery to their doorstep. Today, that delivery can come in form of a text message, email, or even a tweet directly to them at any time throughout the day. According to the Newspaper Association of America, “Newspaper Web sites attracted more than 74 million monthly unique visitors on average in the third quarter of 2009, more than one-third (38 percent) of all Internet users.” (Newspaper Association of America) Editors formerly scrambled to obtain all the facts before a daily printing and shipped the information out as a tangible. Today, however, online newspaper articles can be constantly updated, changed, and commented on.
Often times, some accuracy and credibility are compromised when sources of news compete to be the first to report. For example, many news outlets declared that Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election in error. Also, during the September 11th attacks there was much speculation throughout the media as to who was responsible and the nature of events before a confirmation was obtained.
Newspapers have always represented a reliable and accurate source of obtaining the news. As newspapers decline in popularity, much of the classical elements of coverage are lost. In certain instances, online news sources blur the lines between information and entertainment in order to gain hits. As a result of the decline in newspaper sales, individuals in our society appear to become less informed and active as citizens.
I found it really interesting you mentioned accuracy and credibility being compromised when sources of news compete to be the first to report. I completely agree with you.
ReplyDeleteIn our fast paced lives, individuals are constantly looking for expeditious ways to get information. Many new technologies allow the access of ‘information at your fingertips’ so the competition to be the first to report is more competitive than ever.
Stovall stated that timeliness is a value common to almost all news stories. Without the element of timeliness, most events cannot be considered news… most events that are more than a day to a day and a half old are not thought to be news (78). If the timeliness is so important, how can one be sure that the facts are accurate? - that’s the danger of immediacy and reporting on the internet.
Ted Koppel, anchor of ABC’s “Nightline” was interviewed on the subject and said “Reporting is not really about, ‘Let’s see who can get the first information to the public as quickly as possible, it’s about ‘Lets see who can get the information to the public – as soon as we have had a chance to make sure the information is accurate, to weigh it against what we know, to put it in some sort of context. ‘Only when you’re satisfied as a professional journalist that you’ve got the story and the facts have been verified, only then can you go with it”. [http://www.jdlasica.com/articles/coloct97.html]
If speed is the main criteria to get information online and out to the public, we’ll be faced with the dilemma of online reporting, rather than online news. The reporting will be up-to-date, reporting every time new facts are revealed, rather than reporting accurately after a given amount of time- the time that is needed to gather and solidify facts.
It's interesting that you mention accuracy in regards to online and newspaper news. I have never really noticed but it does seem that newspapers do need to wait it out and provide their hard facts in print. It seems that even though most online news sources are fairly accurate their rush to be the first source of news can definitely play a role in accuracy and the ability to check their sources or lack there of.
ReplyDeleteSilverblatt's, "Media Communicator” reading states, “One advantage still held by the newspaper over fast-paced outlets such as radio, TV, and the Internet is that a majority of people find it relaxing to read the newspaper.” This concept in regards to a news outlet is very true; it's true in regards to life. A way to relax with all the hype around you. The newspaper has the ability to reassure you of tradition and even though technology is nice, we do not need to be as dependent on it as most think we are. I am currently at a coffee shop and there are about twelve other people here sitting down and taking some time out of their day to relax. Out of these twelve, five are reading the newspaper. Even though it is in the decline, it is still very much apart of many peoples life.
However, this still doesn't change the unfortunate facts: the decline of newspapers. The Newspaper Association of America released figures showing the highest drop in newspaper sales between 2006 to 2007. This decline consisted of 9.4% a total of 42 billion drop. The biggest since 1950. Yet, the online business is soaring with revenue growing 18.8%. And now a total of 7.5% revenue solely from newspaper ads.
It's clear the news plays a significant role in our society. Whether it is from the internet or a hard source, it's there and citizens are being informed. It's disheartening to witness the decline of such a powerful and important figure, but we are engaging and entering into a different time and technology is banging at our door.
Source:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/28/decline-of-us-newspapers-accelerating/