Wednesday, December 10, 2008

7 Reasons why print media trumps the internet

1. Selectivity-I like to know that the people who are writing what I'm reading are all specifically trained to write and have acheived the highest echelon of the world of journalism (i.e. The Washington Post) through experience. I kind of see the upside of everyone being a journalist through web 2.0, but then again that sort of makes no one a journalist (like that guy in the film "The Incredibles" who threatens to end the superhero profession by making everyone a superhero). Well, I still like the idea of journalists out there, and I think that there should be devices out there that seperate the men from the boys. I think there should be a gate keeper of some sort, and I don't believe there was ever much of an unjust barrier of entry to the print media industry to begin with. If you are a good enough writer and have had enough experience, you will make it. I believe all Web 2.0's blogging revolution does is empower the inexperienced and less able.

2. Not a second wasted searching-I don't have to wait a second weeding results through a google search to find pertinent or relevant information. The newspaper divides it up quite nicely into sports, style, metro, international, and national news. And you always know where to find everything.

3. Not too much information, not too little information-I don't want a humongous expose on the state of basketball, nor do i want short sentences littered with pictures, i know what to expect and the newspaper's articles are geared towards stories that you can read within the time your attention span maintains its interest.

4. Knowing what to expect every week-I know that Friday will be movie reviews, Wednesday will be TV ratings right-ups, Sunday will be a style contests, Saturday will be political cartoons. You can also attach yourself to writers like Dana Milbank, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon and see what new they have to say. Now blogs and website have options where you can subscribe to new posts so I would call this an improvement

5. Mobility-I imagine that with power outages, the monthly costs of cable, connection problems that frequently plague computers, that noone can be completely dependent on the internet today and get that information wherever they go. The newspaper is great to read on the bus, while you're at a restaraunt, in the park, etc. It sort of ruins the mood if you're in the middle of a park and logging onto your laptop.

6. Not looking at a screen-Going along with the mobility reasoning, as the internet becomes more and more prevalent in our lives, we are looking at a screen more often while sitting still. For the sake of the health of your eyes and legs, it is useful not to spend too much time in front of a screen. Now more than ever, as much as I like what the computer and internet can do for me, I see anytime I can spend away from a screen as a good thing for balance's seek

7. I'm promoting a good cause-If I believe that the existence of professional journalists is a good thing (although some of you might disagree), then it's good to support the newspaper with a mere 50 cents a day, which is one of the best bargains around in terms of entertainment value.

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