Decline of Newspapers

I think the declining trend of newspaper sales and revenue is a major threat to the validity and credibility of the media. I have been learning about this topic in two different classes this semester, and the more I hear about it, the more it worries me. According to our most recent lecture in Dr. Schiffer’s Media and Politics class, nearly all of the major news stories talked about on TV and radio programs originate from articles and reporters in the newspaper industry. Newspaper journalists are the best in the business, and they have decades upon decades of rigorous standards, experience, and professionalism in all facets of journalism. They find the stories, investigate the issues, interview the involved parties, and write the articles—the problem, however, is that the news they publish is quickly shared through hundreds of other sources, all of which detract from the bottom line of the source itself.

To be honest, I can’t say that I’m doing much to help with this problem. Newspapers haven’t quite found a way to effectively (and profitably) keep up with the growing trend of digital media. Until about 10-15 years ago, there were really only two ways to get the news—TV and newspapers—and there were only so many credible sources amongst those two avenues. However, with the explosion of the Internet and, in more recent years, of news aggregator sites like the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and Reddit, it’s becoming easier and easier to get the news from an uninvolved 3^rd party. Readers are attracted to the funny commentary, catchy headlines, and interesting website layouts of these sites, while the bland and unappealing newspaper websites (or God forbid, the physical papers themselves) seem almost archaic.  I don’t know what the solution is, but realistically, I don’t think I will change my habits despite the threats to newspapers. I want to enjoy reading, rather than it seem like a chore—I hope for all of our sakes that newspapers find a way to adapt, or the content of the news I read, even indirectly, will be drastically worse in a few years from now.

Online Books

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I am currently taking a class called American Fiction- 1960 to the Present.  So far, the class has been pretty great. It is very discussion-oriented, which in my opinion, tends to lead to the best in-class experiences. The focus of the literature we’ve been reading and the discussions we’ve been having has been on wartime, and specifically what that notion of wartime means to different people in different generations of modern American culture. The first book we read was Kurt Vonnegut’s classic Slaughterhouse 5, which I’m happy I finally the chance to read and discuss. We’ve since moved on to the pseudo-autobiographical Revolt of the Cockroach People by Oscar Zeta Acosta. I had never heard of the book before, and new little about the author prior to our study of his life and works in this class—in both cases, the topics of conversation have been incredibly interesting. I’ll spare the details for the purposes of this blog post, but I’d definitely recommend reading up on Acosta’s life and cause if you’re interested in the Chicano movement in and around L.A during the 1960’s.

Fortunately, I was able to find a free version of Revolt of the Cockroach People online, available through a PDF file hosted on a website (the site itself is dedicated to Acosta’s cause, so there’s no indication that it’s illegal, rather a means to increase awareness about the book itself). It’s been an interesting experience reading an entire novel on my computer, and this one in particular; the font is fairly large and there is quite a bit of space between paragraphs, including all the lines of dialogue. As a result, I find myself essentially constantly scrolling down to keep reading. I’ve never felt like I’ve read a book quicker than this one simply because of this illusion. There are over 550 pages online, nearly double that of the physical book, and it seems like I’ve actually been reading it twice as fast. To me, it seems almost too casual and too fast to be reading an actual book; while I’ve been absorbing everything and paying attention to what’s happening, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m reading an online news article rather than an award-winning novel. I’m used to lingering on pages for a while, rereading certain lines and marking notes where needed. In this case, however, I don’t have that option—it’s nearly impossible to find specific quotes I’m looking for because of the huge number of pages.

While I like the fact that I feel like I’m making quick progress through the novel, I think having the physical book would be much more beneficial in regards to deep reading and interacting with the text. My financial instincts dictate that I won’t pass up an opportunity to get a book for free rather than buy it in the store, however, if it’s a book that I just want to read for pleasure rather than an assigned text, I certainly won’t be looking to scroll through it as casually as I am this novel.