Blogging and the American Newspaper
One of the newest pop culture trends is an explosion of Internet web logs or “blogs”. Through blogs anyone can find a venue for their thoughts and ideas. Blogging websites have created a place for people to speak about what’s going on in their day-to-day lives. Many blogs report on current events, politics, sports and a variety of other topics. Author and blogger Dan Gillmor noted, “Blogging is sometimes viewed as a new, grassroots form of journalism and a way to shape democracy outside the mass media and conventional party politics” (qtd. in Nardi et al 629). Bloggers have become the reporters for our pop culture generation. This newfound voice of America has quickly eroded the traditional news media. Newspapers are going bankrupt and shutting their doors and other news media is being forced to change the methods in which they broadcast. Blogging has attacked the traditional ways that Americans get their news and information.
In the past Americans have relied on television and papers for their news and information. There was a time, not so long ago, that the typical image of an American on a Sunday morning conjured up a picture of a family sitting around the breakfast table with Dad reading the Sunday paper. Now that traditional image probably involves at least one computer, if not several. The paper is becoming increasingly unnecessary in the ideal since every aspect of that paper can be found, free of charge, online.
Everything from the front-page news of the day, to the comic section is at our fingertips in blog form. From video blogs on current events and politics to online web-comics the average American has found less and less reason to maintain their newspaper subscriptions.
As such, the newspaper industry has been the hardest struck by the blogging boom. In recent years revenues from subscriptions and advertising has plummeted. In an April 2009 article in the New York Times Richard Perez-Pena reported that advertising revenue for newspapers is down 30 percent from previous years. In the article; Perez states “Newspapers count on advertising for the bulk of their revenue, and for a decade they have been losing ads to the Internet, where advertising is much cheaper and there is far more competition for it” (B3). Many paper companies have now declared bankruptcy, or worse. For example, The Seattle Post Intelligencer recently closed after 140 years of publication.
The shift to online blogs has changed other news media outlets as well. Most traditional television news programs have some sort of online component now. However, even that hasn’t proven to be the savior of their profit margin. In an effort to recoup some losses many traditional media sites require users to pay a fee for an online subscription. But, blogs are free. Users put up content that is available for anyone to look at. Most websites that host blogs typically recoup their costs from pop-up advertising, or inset ads.
But, what has the loss of our newspaper empires cost us? It’s easy for youth culture to look at the traditional journalism industries as groups of tired and old men on their way to the grave. Wearing the green visors and huddled around archaic and noisy printing presses in smoky rooms. What is often forgotten is that these are the same people who uncovered the Watergate Scandal.
In the new technologically friendly world, where every piece of information is only as far away as your I-phone, what is the harm in relying on blogs for our news? Well, bloggers aren’t held to the same standards as journalists. Journalists have a supervisor that they must answer to. As an employee of a news agency, a journalist has a certain responsibility to check facts and ensure an accurate account of events. In the past journalistic integrity has been challenged by the public as well (ironically, even by bloggers). Bloggers are unlikely to break open political corruption. Their narration of events is almost always going to be skewed by personal views. It doesn’t seem likely that our next presidential candidate will sit down for an interview with your average blogger.
To say that blogs shouldn’t try to report on the news isn’t accurate either. It’s important for people to voice their opinions. After all, one of the founding principals of America is the right to public forum. Blogs could surely be described as the Internets answer to the town hall meetings of the past. People can share their ideas and ideals on blogs. Visitors to blog sites can post responses to the stories they read. This helps to encourage discussion and open peoples minds to new ideas. They allow for greater cultural diversity as people from all over the world can connect and learn about each other.
The outlook for America’s newspaper seems bleak. It’s unlikely that they will have the resources to recover from the financial damage that has already been done to them. When this happens America will loose a great part of its history that blogs will not be able to replace. Blogs can be entertaining and educational, but we must look at them with a skeptical eye so as not to be led astray by someone’s personal beliefs.
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