SF Chronicle goes small formatI had been reading The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. I got to the part in which they explain how "citizens are not customers," and in fact, it is the advertisers who have traditionally funded the news in a triangle relationship with news - citizens - advertisers. It made me realize that my role in supporting the democratic society that I live in involves supporting the free press. While I can get updated news from my Twitters and from online, it is just as important to support the lady who sells the papers in front of the bagel shop, talk to her about what's happening, read the news to my wife or talk about some article at the coffee shop.
I think one distinction that Kovach and Rosenstiel said is that we seek the news, but we don't consume the news. The news is everywhere, it is free, and it is unmitigated. But journalists and newspeople help us make sense of the news. And at their best, they give us the information that we crave and let us discuss it and form our own opinions. What a society it didn't have journalists?
Surprisingly, the Chron had 4 front-page stories instead of the usual jumble of teasers. There was an article about how California residents are struggling with the economic woes and another one about a new study on salmon hatcheries that may actually be harming the natural order. I did the right thing this July 4th.
Eric Chow
Phillip & Sala Burton High School
San Francisco
Posts
Kick butt!
ReplyDeleteYea, Eric! Please subscribe to the paper!
ReplyDeleteMark Webber
Laredo, Texas
What a great realization--and you helped me realize that too. I want the papers to keep feeding me good news, but I don't subscribe to help them provide it for me, just read online. You've inspired me to at least start subscribing to the Sunday edition.
ReplyDeleteHi Eric-
ReplyDeleteI bought 3 papers today including the local Marietta paper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and USA Today. I am fascinated by their design which was there all the time, I was just too overwhelmed to notice. I noticed how many columns they had, how wide the papers were, whether they had jumps, the style, etc. I think I am falling in love with newspapers again.
Your comment about news being everywhere is right on target. I want to move my students from consuming news like they do junk food to intentionally selecting news that feeds their minds.
I just downloaded the New York Times Reader 2.0. It is free for now an is a beautiful presentation of digital news. I can't paste the link but Google it and you will find it. If news organizations give me a reader like this for my computer, an App for my phone or even a free Kindle-like device for subscribing, I am sure they will prosper even in tough economic times. Cell phone companies always give away some of their phones so you sign a 2-year contract. Why don't news organizations move to this model?
Bravo Eric! I was afraid to aask how many fellows were actually reading newspapers regularly. I read at least 2 a day -- except when I'm in a rural area -- like now, Northport, Mich -- when I go through severe withdrawal. I thought it was funny that the AR editors said they still base ad rates on eyeball time and newspapers have the highest. I NEVER read ads, in fact, I have to go back and look if I'm buying something. So much for research-based stuff, eh? Hope you're all having a great summer (it was in the 40s here last night). Lynn (no E) Dulcie
ReplyDelete