Internet replacing print news?
By Brian Kernan
The announcement on March 6 that the Associated Press will begin aggressively tracking down online media that uses its content for free has highlighted the demise of newspapers.
There's a lot to be said about the role of newspapers in a democratic system. The investigative scrutiny of reporters helps to keep government and business honest while freedom of the press is protected by the Constitution.
When asked about newspapers in 1787, Thomas Jefferson replied, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
In a sense, newspapers function as the watchdogs of democracy, exposing corruption and other abuses of power by placing them within the public eye. However, it's no secret that newspapers around the country are having problems.
In Colorado, Rocky Mountain News, the state's oldest newspaper, closed its doors on Feb. 27 of this year. In Washington, Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its last print issue on March 17, 2009. However, the paper is still available online. Even the New York Times is currently $1.1 billion in debt.
Readers are increasingly turning to free online news sources and blogs for information, and advertising dollars have followed in the wake of this cultural shift. However, while some have jumped the gun by speculating that the demise of print media will ultimately conclude in a world dominated by the subjective tweeting of the blogosphere, it is more likely that we are simply witnessing a restructuring of the industry.
Painting the demise of newspapers as a battle between the traditional establishment and the cyber community is too simplistic. For instance, much has been said of SanDiegoWatch.org, a nonprofit organization that performs its own investigative reporting. Inspired by the success of this new journalism model, several similar groups have formed in other cities across the country.
These organizations, however, which feature staffs and budgets that are a fraction of the size of a traditional newspaper, admit that they are not an adequate substitute for the tried-and-true model. Nonetheless, they represent an ability to innovate and find new solutions.
Newspapers will undoubtedly remain an important feature of our social landscape, though this will also require a transformation. Whether or not the Associated Press' plan to crack down on sites that us its content will work is debatable. Napster's shutdown certainly didn't deter music downloading.
Win or lose, if there's one thing newspapers should be given credit for, it's the ability to adapt.
Brian Kernan is a senior economics and history double major and the opinion editor for The Santa Clara.