Comments on: Back to the future: Is media returning to the 19th century?

By: TECHnewsWeb

TECHnewsWeb — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:25:49 +0000

Back to the future: Is media returning to the 19th century? http://t.co/XMDRWcyi

By: james o. clifford

james o. clifford — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:18:04 +0000

Fourteen pages and no mention of wire services, the largest gatherer and distributor of news for any medium. As for the coffee house analogy, I think beer hall is more apt – beer hall as in putsch.

By: Mark Hernandez

Mark Hernandez — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:42:07 +0000

This is a complex discussion involving a moving target and many interacting variables. It’s very difficult to discuss, and this article touches on so many different things it’s point is not clear, which hits the nail on the head. :-)

One thing IS clear, though. You used to have to buy a whole album, but now you can just buy the song you want. That’s so much better! And you used to have to buy a whole magazine or newspaper, but now you can just get the news items you’re open to.

And now it’s from a myriad of sources… the individual things about our world we find interesting come from a collection of media TYPES (TV, print, word of mouth, radio in the car, online, social networks, etc) and from a mix of SOURCES within each type which hopefully come from a broad spectrum from 100% trusted sources (e.g. asymco.com) to untrusted but stimulating sources (from sites like this, to friends with limited critical thinking skills.)

This “new mix” is the moving target, and will continue to evolve, and it’s the way it’s now done here in the 21st century. And a greater awareness of the “filter bubble” problem can only help.

But here’s the deal… there will be no consistency, no one answer, no silver bullet, because, like human romantic relationships, there will always be as many different ways people stay informed as there are people. It’s complicated, uncontrollable, and it will become even more so.

By: Ramin

Ramin — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:14:51 +0000

The democratization of distribution is definitely a positive. It’s not like our existing television oligopoly is producing valuable journalism (i.e. tornado rubbernecking, Weiner, Casey Anthony). I like how the New York Times has seized this as an opportunity and is producing really great products and content online. Also I think journalist turned bloggers improves the quality because editor filtering/censoring is removed and independence increases.

By: Akashdeep

Akashdeep — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 04:09:14 +0000

Many people around me are concerned that, with the popularity of social media sites, the majority will only seem to focus on local news only (i.e. what happens with their friends/town/anything related to them). Although this has already happened with some, I still believe that social networking is a great benefit to dispersing and receiving news. There are, as the article mentioned, many sources to check facts or look across various papers/sites to see what you agree with or perhaps even what the real truth is. It seems as though many arguments against the internet being a viable source of information seem to ignore some great benefits that have been achieved with it over the years (that is not to say that the internet is perfect).

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:27:32 +0000

The idea of newspapers is quite old, and has been considered to have originated with the roman columns where news was placed (Desmond). In America, papers were instrumental in our history, and had a blank back page for writing notes. They were social and meant for sharing. The idea of news as a publishing business is much like the music industry, and a modern phenomenon.

The questions concern authority, control, and connections. In recent years, particularly with respect to Iraq, news has shown itself to be tied to power more than many of us would like in a democracy. News is essentially losing, just as alternate channels are being created in North Africa to the detriment of power.

I can’t say that this is bad. We will choose our news with the associated filters of perspective, just as we look at a map online. And, news will rise with its importance. My “world” section is Juan Cole. My “politcs” section is Talking Points Memo. I can’t say this is bad, and it drowns out the establishment perspectives of NYT, WSJ, etc.…