Friday, April 3, 2009
No More Newspaper?
At the Writer's Panel, I asked Todd Babiak if he thought the Journal had a hope of succeeding in an increasingly paperless world, and if that side of the Edmonton institution was doomed to evaporate or just diversify. His answer was a mixed-bag; largely, he said niche-oriented information outlets would gain prominence, such as periodicals about the Edmonton LGTBQ community (I think thats the right order for the acronym...). Also, and more alarmingly, he focussed on the fact that these sources of information about Edmonton and its happenings would necessarily be greatly slanted towards specific viewpoints, and more frighteningly, the only source for vital political information on our city's legislators and elected representatives would become well-spun stories from right and left-wing polarized blogs and sites (HuffPo and The Drudge Report being the American examples used). The one critical thing this rather dystopian future is missing that the Journal currently provides is then a mostly-impartial forum, where no letters to the editor are censored and stories are reported regardless of their impact on a political party. Long blog short, we need a way to maintain this function, as the fast news and increasing fragmentation of the communication-blessing that is the internet leaves us ever the more isolated, and paradoxically, drives what remains of the Edmonton community further apart.
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I was thinking about what he said about the decline of newspaper readership, and I think I've found a solution. What we need is to bring back the newspaper boys that stand in the street yelling "extra, extra. Read all about it!" Imagine if The Journal hired someone to stand in downtown and sell papers. Think of how many more you would sell in a day that just putting a newspaper stand that will easily be looked over by passersby. I'll do it. Hire me Edmonton Journal.
ReplyDeleteIs there a digital equivalent??
ReplyDeleteoh, right: banner ads... ;-)
Susan's comment made me laugh. Made me think of the movie "Newsies" ANYWAY about your comments on the disappearing Newspaper . . . do you really think it will disappear? I mean, maybe it's popularity is down and maybe people are finding other ways, more modern if you will, that inform them of the "going ons" of Edmonton. I think its great that we have Newspapers that present multiple sides to stories but what I think might be a problem is the ever-increasing busy-ness of our city. I know that I dnt have time to sit down with a cup of coffee and go through the pages of our papers. Im busy and I need to access information according to how busy I am. The internet is easy. Your at work, have a few minutes, access the news while your there. clicking aorund is alot easier than finding a paper stand and having the correct amount of change that changes according to the day. I dont think people have stopped wanting to know about the going-ons of our city but they have just found a faster, easier way to do it. I think we have just adpated a little better to a hectic lifestyle. Thats why we have "News at 11:00pm" If you ask me, the internet saves so much hassle and newspaper sales are showing that. As to the result of narrow focused, less open outlets of informaiton being formed (ie: a right-winged blog etc) Well then wouldnt it be our job to fix that? Why doesnt the Journal switch to focusing a bit more on the internet information relay?? And maybe they are. But I dont see why the loss of the newspaper is SOOOO detrimental. Perhaps someone could inform me. All I know is I am to busy for it and thank god for interent and late news or the world could end somewhere and it would take me days to find out :)
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