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| Newspapers are still vital |
By: JASON SALZMAN
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More and more of us are skipping the daily newspaper and getting information from blogs, Web sites, and entertainment TV.
The newspapers' Web sites are more and more popular, but Web site surfers don't buy subscriptions, and so far, advertisers aren't paying nearly as much to place ads on newspaper Web sites as they do for the dead-tree edition that's delivered to doorsteps. So, as their ad revenue drops, newspapers are cutting back on the number of stories written, the breadth of coverage they offer, the features they include, and much more.
Some people hear about this and shrug. Who cares if newspapers die? We can get by without them. But here's the rub: Most of the alternative sources of news, including blogs and Web sites, rely on newspaper articles for information. It's usually newspaper stories that provide ideas for TV stations or create the basis for the controversy on talk radio or the commentary on a blog. It's often a newspaper story that inspires an angry citizen to dig for facts that contradict or confirm a statement from a public official.
In other words, when you look at where local news comes from, it's almost always the journalists at the local newspaper who report the stuff people are talking about.
Sure, local TV news, radio, and other publications also produce local stories, but the number and breadth of stories from other sources don't hold a candle to what's generated by newspaper reporters. So, when people tell you that the local newspaper is no longer relevant in the Internet age, ask them what's going to take its place. Who, if not the newspaper reporter, is going to report on the mayor, the police force, the sports teams, and, of course, the weather - all in the same issue? Who's going to write the story that the blogger is going to trash?
That's why newspapers remain so important, even if you think they're biased, boring, or irresponsible. Most of them carry more fair and accurate information about local issues than you'll find anywhere else, even if newspapers are much smaller and more entertainment-oriented than they once were.
I mean, imagine if newspapers didn't exist. Information will become more and more fractured, with Web sites and bloggers keeping track of narrow bands of local information that will attract an audience just big enough to snag advertisers. Your average citizen will be able to find the information and news they want, but the news they need to function in a democracy will likely slip through the cracks.
The discourse of our community, the news we share with each other, will be replaced by the discourse of interest groups, sports nuts, knitting clubs, liberal political junkies, conservative Christians, you name it. Everyone will have a lane on the information highway, but fewer of us will connect with each other. That's what's at stake as we watch America's newspapers struggle to survive over the next decade.
That's why the Federal Communications Commission should protect newspapers, to a reasonable degree, from being destroyed by the free market.
Because of their importance to our democracy, newspapers should not be treated like other products, like the soap you buy at the supermarket.
The point is, we can help newspapers survive, without censorship, but we first need to recognize just how important they are.
- Jason Salzman is a media critic for the "Rocky Mountain News" and author of "Making the News: A Guide for Activists and Nonprofits." |
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