A recent article questioning the importance and indeed even the relevance of newspapers and the print media in an era of instant messaging and communication has thrown up once again all of those questions - did radio kill newspapers? Did the advent of Television effectively silence the radio? And then again - with the all powerful Internet that spawned blogging, facebook, twitter, digg, stumble upon......and what else have you(!) are we any closer to seeing the end of Television itself?? The thing to realise possibly is to appreciate that all these different forms of mass media have their own use and purpose - just like we never forget to ride a bicycle or swim, we never forget to read newspapers for their depth and "tangible" reality. That is not to say the other media do not have that sense of reality, but consider this - are they not still tantamount to rumours until you actually read the printed word on something you can touch and feel? The article also made some interesting conjectures about how the printed word can continue to exist and give itself an enduring shelf-life - and it is all about convergence really. If newspapers can exercise a kind of dominant role in complementing the other types of media, and even embracing them, they have a far better chance of survival in the long run, than they would by ignoring them!
http://http://www.kippreport.com/2009/07/is-print-dead-part-i/
No comments:
Post a Comment