It's News to You

I picked up the New York Times the other day to begin my daily intake of the news. I didn’t turn on my computer to do this; I merely picked up a stack of paper, a newspaper. I made my way through the international and national sections, then to the Op-Ed section – reading stark-faced and interested. I was learning about my country and the world around me. I was stepping outside of my small and limited perspective. I was stepping outside of my little corner of the world.

I then made my way to the business section – my second favorite. Some people say that you can read the business section of a newspaper and you will know what is going on around the world. I guess so, you capitalist, you. Anyway, the business section has been increasingly interesting to me given the current state of the economy. I read about companies that are going under (small businesses), others that have never laid off employees for 20 plus years during tough economic times (a small grocery store chain because everyone still eats), and others that are suffering. Detroit’s Big Three were suffering and continue to suffer, specifically General Motors and Chrysler, even after receiving their billion dollar piece of the economic bailout pie.

I read about all of this in the newspaper. I stopped for a moment, realizing that my means of attaining this information, the newspaper, is also limping along. It’s not just The New York Times, it’s also the Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times. The newspaper is dying.

Online content thrives, through the means of bloggers and major news networks. Even major newspaper companies have converted their content to the online realm, but their actions have not been able to create adequate profits. Ad revenue is down, circulation is down, and people, like you and I, can get their news online for free, anytime we want.

People used to have to pay for their news. Prior to radio and television, if you wanted to know what was going on in the world, you bought the newspaper. You did this out of duty – a duty to yourself, and to the people around you. It was a duty to know. Today, we think that having the news is a right. “We have the right to know what is going on in the country.” Arguably, this perception of free news came through the use of radio and television. People became accustomed to turning something on and receiving information, instead of paying right before the information was available.

I agree with some, that we have a right to know certain things – in the case of a national emergency, I should be able to log on to cnn.com or nytimes.com and read all about two airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center buildings. I shouldn’t have to pay for that.

I should pay for knowledge of the economic stimulus bill. I should pay to know about Bernie Madoff, and his destructive Ponzi Scheme. I should pay to know what is going on with my favorite sports teams. I should pay for my news. And so should you. We forget how important journalists and the news are. We read about things interested and with a sense of importance, but we don’t expect to have to pay for this information. We love wikipedia and google. We hate hard-copy encyclopedias and libraries.

Next time you pass a newsstand, buy a newspaper. Think of it as your duty, as an intellectual soldier.

-Alex Tandy

Photo Courtesy of Stefano Corso