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Knowlton Knows
Newspapers becoming old news

The world of traditional print publishing is nearing fatal collapse. Part two of two looks at an industry heavyweight—journalism.

     

Knowlton Thomas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

father reads the daily morning newspaper and chats

A: his son at breakfast. “Wow, did you hear about

iger Woods? He allegedly had an affair with some
bartender. Look at this.”

His son stares at him long and hard, raises an eyebrow,
then leans back with a shrug and a laugh. “Dad,” he says,

“Twitter should render newspapers as useless
as a Styrofoam brick. Right? Well... there is
another side to the story, a key element that

print papers still boast exclusively.”

placing a hand of pity on his father’s shoulder, “Ten affairs
have already surfaced, including voice message and phone
text evidence. Have you been living under a rock? I’ve been
getting real-time updates on my iPhone from Twitter. Get a
life, old man.”

The father weeps softly.

As obnoxious as the dad’s son may be, he does raise a
valid point— print newspapers deliver most news considerably
slower than real-time online social networks such as Twitter.
With incidents like the Balloon Boy hoax, and more recently,
Tiger Woods’ surreal thrash of dirty affairs, Twitter delivers
the goods. Not only does it feed readers information first, it
also provides real-time updates, allowing people to follow
news as it unfolds.

This concept is both helpful and thrilling, and should
render newspapers as useless as a Styrofoam brick. Right?
Well... there is another side to the story, a key element that
print papers still boast exclusively.

This element is the honest authenticity of factual
discussion. While Twitter may pump out real-time updates
around the clock, consider the sources. An uneasy blend of
low quality online news services and basement-dwelling
rumourmongers. True facts do come through, but followers
must be careful in filtering out the junk and sifting through
mere rumors. And often, before any legitimate facts are
unveiled, multiple waves of entirely false information crash
down on Twitter’s shores. This can be inefficient, not to
mention tedious, for people wanting the cold hard truth.

With traditional journalism, facts are triple-checked and
reporters ensuring maximum accuracy is the sole current
running through each article. This higher level of truth enables
readers to relax; no sifting or filtering. If they want to relay
information or develop an opinion on the matter or event, they
can do so with the assurance of good old-fashioned factual
backup.

The act of discussing the news in traditional print
journalism is vital as well. There is little value in a three-
sentence blurb of freshly surfaced rumours without pillars of
supporting evidence. A lot more can be said for articles that
include relevant background information, attach details, and
tag on reputable sources as a stamp of factual quality.

While reading the morning newspaper may feel like a
primitive act nowadays, it can still offer a lot of value. And
even with Twitter and the concept of real-time feeds on the
rise, print journalism’s purpose, albeit now narrowed, still
stands strong.