Where is the watchdog when all the newspapers fold? The constitution gauranteed freedom of the press precisely because an informed public is an essential element of our governmental process. But as with all good things, we, in our impatience, kill the proverbial goose to get at the immediate gold. Then there isn't anymore forthcoming.
We allowed electronic media to drive print out of business because we are too hurried to get the full story. A snippet will do, thank you, and make it snappy. We will, of course, be sorry. But then it will be too late. Or maybe we won't be sorry because we have wallowed so merrily in our ignorance that we won't even know what we have lost.
This globe has turned for more than fifty years; but apparently it will be shut off this month, the city will become a one-newspaper town, and likely, as is the case in too many other cities, it will eventually become a no-newspaper town.
1 comment:
I love having tangible printed page to read, to turn, to dog-ear, to tear out. That will never change.
I wish that the current economic crisis was pushing more people towards the easily accessible - ie, daily newspaper - rather than pushing people towards the less accessible - digital media won't last long if the general public can't afford to keep their iPhone and Blackberry bills paid. If things get bad enough, will the newspaper return?
At any rate, I believe the postal service needs to stop compounding the problem by raising rates for publications. The more cost prohibitive, the more business they will lose to online venues.
But then, I am not the Postmistress General. I do, however, still relish getting Real Mail in a Real Mailbox. Perhaps a better economic stimulus would be to buy all government employees lots of gift subscriptions to papers and magazines - spoken, of course, as a writer/editor.
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