Newspapers: A Dying Form of Mass Culture
Newspapers have been an important part of American mass
culture for a very long time. Due to technology however, they are simply
becoming a thing of the past. People are opting to find news stories using
other mediums such as the internet or television and therefore not purchasing
actual newspapers. This is sending many
newspapers out of business. Within Lizbeth Cohen’s article Encountering Mass Culture at the Grass Roots, newspapers are mentioned
only a couple of times and with nowhere near the amount of detail pertaining to
the large effect other forms of mass
culture (movie theatres and radio) had on working class people. I think the
recognition within this one article illustrates the way most people now view
newspapers as unimportant. Having worked
for The Cincinnati Enquirer for 10 years, I feel somewhat differently. I
believe that newspapers are important tools for people to utilize, especially
at the “grassroots” level. According to Ricardo Rigodon’s article Newspapers Might Become a Thing of the Past,
"In a statistic there are 22% of adults overall with no access to the internet
medium with only 42% of those being over 65+ years old. This is taking away a
form of news for these people that don't have access to this media.” Working in
a union, I used to receive a monthly newspaper that kept me informed on many
issues that were on-going within the Teamsters union, as well as provide
information on certain politicians and their views and actions toward organized
labor. This was information that I would not find in mainstream media. Due to
the rising cost of producing the newspaper, they eventually stopped publishing
it and I was not as informed and educated on matters that were/could be very
important to my trade. I think there are a lot of people who are going to be
negatively affected by a “lack” of consumerism in this case. Newspapers promote
reading, research, and information. Despite the low cost of purchasing a
newspaper, younger generations are going to miss out on the vast wealth of
knowledge that they can supply. While there is still online access to
newspapers, I do not feel that it is exactly the same as picking up a newspaper
and actually flipping through the pages to find stories on a local and/or global
level that interest people. What other effects do you think Americans consuming
habits have on the newspaper industry? Do you think these trends will have the
same type of large impact on other forms of mass culture (media)?
Newspapers have been an important part of American mass
culture for a very long time. Due to technology however, they are simply
becoming a thing of the past. People are opting to find news stories using
other mediums such as the internet or television and therefore not purchasing
actual newspapers. This is sending many
newspapers out of business. Within Lizbeth Cohen’s article Encountering Mass Culture at the Grass Roots, newspapers are mentioned
only a couple of times and with nowhere near the amount of detail pertaining to
the large effect other forms of mass
culture (movie theatres and radio) had on working class people. I think the
recognition within this one article illustrates the way most people now view
newspapers as unimportant. Having worked
for The Cincinnati Enquirer for 10 years, I feel somewhat differently. I
believe that newspapers are important tools for people to utilize, especially
at the “grassroots” level. According to Ricardo Rigodon’s article Newspapers Might Become a Thing of the Past,
"In a statistic there are 22% of adults overall with no access to the internet
medium with only 42% of those being over 65+ years old. This is taking away a
form of news for these people that don't have access to this media.” Working in
a union, I used to receive a monthly newspaper that kept me informed on many
issues that were on-going within the Teamsters union, as well as provide
information on certain politicians and their views and actions toward organized
labor. This was information that I would not find in mainstream media. Due to
the rising cost of producing the newspaper, they eventually stopped publishing
it and I was not as informed and educated on matters that were/could be very
important to my trade. I think there are a lot of people who are going to be
negatively affected by a “lack” of consumerism in this case. Newspapers promote
reading, research, and information. Despite the low cost of purchasing a
newspaper, younger generations are going to miss out on the vast wealth of
knowledge that they can supply. While there is still online access to
newspapers, I do not feel that it is exactly the same as picking up a newspaper
and actually flipping through the pages to find stories on a local and/or global
level that interest people. What other effects do you think Americans consuming
habits have on the newspaper industry? Do you think these trends will have the
same type of large impact on other forms of mass culture (media)? 
I feel the same way you do. Newspapers are becoming a thing of the past, and it is a sad phenomenon. People of my generation (I'm 23) really don't appreciate what being up-to-date on the world around them does for you. As I've gone from recent High School graduate to an established college student i find myself more and more interested in the world around me. I realize that some if not most other people my age are the opposite of me; they don't really have a care about their community and what is good or bad about it. They are more interested in how many Twitter followers they gained last week. To a person my age being up-to-date is checking Facebook on a daily basis, and that is just sad.
ReplyDeleteI just recently got my first "Smart" phone, and I have the CNN app, and Local 12 news app and I check them daily, and its not hard to see that in our future there might be a time when that will be the only way to read the news. I predict that once my generation reaches their 60's the newspaper will be gone if it had not happened already. For me, I enjoy reading the paper everyday, and will continue to do so as long as it is available to me in paper form.
As a member of a local union myself, I also discovered that my monthly newspaper was taken away from me with the lack of participation in print media. I feel the same sense of not being informed as you do, so I definitely understand where you're coming from with that.
ReplyDeleteI'm with both of you on reading the newspaper. But, I feel that the new-age consumer prefers to purchase apps or receive free apps rather than subscribe to a local or national newspaper. With that being said, I agree that print media will be obsolete in the near future. I feel that most people in the newer generation do not appreciate the value we receive from picking up a newspaper, therefore its prevalence is irrelevant.
I agree with everyone. I think that conventional newspapers and magazines are on there way out, so to speak. I say this because Americans are constantly looking for the most convenient way of obtaining a good, and hard copies of literature, like newspapers and magazines, just don't stack up against their electronic counterparts in terms of convenience and price (from my understanding). Plus, electronic copies can be purchased 24/7, whereas hard copy purchases depend on store hours and supply.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the newspaper industry. The newspaper has fallen of the radar of many people today, with the advances of the internet and 24hour TV, people have the information before a newspaper can reach their hands. The majority of news comes from the internet straight to phones or tablets which has made the newspaper so useless and unwanted by people.
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ReplyDeleteI remember some time ago when I was growing up and we got the newspaper every day. I would always grab the sports section and the comics while I ate my morning cereal, it was a daily ritual. While doing that, I absorbed a small amount of news slowly but surely. I feel like kids today are overstimulated by television and video games, and because of this they don't have the same rich experiences that we do. That being said, I feel like we only have ourselves to blame for the loss of the newspaper. Society is becoming so fast. The constant need for the new, quick and fast and immediate. On the internet we have access to an article as soon as its posted, but the newspaper takes time to print so we get our news slower. My question would be is the immediate knowledge of things actually any better? Do we have to know everything and move so quickly? I'd personally be very hesitant to say yes. I'm not sure how others feel.
ReplyDeleteI think it is pretty sad what is happening to print media. Unfortunately it has really become a thing of the past. Everything we need to know can be accessed online. You bring up a very good point when you mention those who do not have access to the internet. It certainly brings up an interesting argument against completely stopping print media. There is still a large portion of the country who rely on it. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next ten years.
ReplyDeleteI think it is unlikely that we will see a day without print media. There are way too many people in the country to which news would be inaccessible to them without newspapers and magazines. There will never be a day in which advertising would give up a method of marketing that reaches people who would otherwise not be reached. I also think Americans tend to see the newspaper as their last connection to the simplicity that life used to have. I don't know anyone that doesn't, at one point or another, enjoy drinking a cup of coffee/tea and reading the paper. If anything, I think the newspaper will make a turn around as some what of a commodity again.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that newspapers are becoming things of the past is dangerous for Americans. I am from the generation that is causing the degradation of print media. I truly think that people use the internet more to keep up on news because it is more convenient, and my generation is lazy. We're all so used to having everything in front of us at a moment's notice, which there is nothing wrong with, but I think print media is usually a more unbiased source of information. Along with this, the big corporations that own News channels like Fox News and MSNBC are watering news stories down with political spins on each news story that happens nationally. Many print sources that I have read are much more fair with their coverage in news stories supporting their arguments with facts, and trying to keep political opinions out of the argument. I think it's sad that my generation is falling for divisive mass media and falling into the trap of not thinking for themselves because many are too lazy to get up and go buy a newspaper, where information is much more solid.
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