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By Jake Jones
Newspapers have become a relic of a bygone time. An example of an archaic practice that was both costly, as well as bad for the environment. The commonly held belief now is that technology has carried us into a new age where our news is at our fingertips and within our pockets at all times. The shift is easily seen in the world around us, one can no longer walk down their street and pick up a morning paper from a newsstand or a corner store, we are instead surrounded by people checking twitter and listening to podcasts over their morning coffee instead of perusing their local paper. It is clear to see that the growth of technology has made it easier to access our news, but what is not so clear is what we have given up in the process. The death of the newspaper is a critical error that I feel our generation will regret but never fully understand.
The local newspaper is an institution that provides a service to all who live within the city. It is news that spans everywhere, from around the globe to around your block. The local paper offers a unique view of events, people writing who possess shared experiences and interests as yourself. It is a part of our local culture, and we have lost that. We no longer read journalist from our own communities, ones we would read every day and feel we somehow know or at the very least understand. We instead go to our computers and search CBS News, or Fox News, or CNN News, or whatever other site holds our allegiance at the time, and we click on the first article that strikes our interest never caring to learn who wrote it, or where they are from, or what stake they hold in the issue. We therefore are missing a crucial aspect of what we are reading, the context. The journalist has a major impact on the story you read, their experiences, their values, their environment all play a role in how they present their information. The beauty of a local paper is that the journalist providing the news shares many of these elements with yourself and therefor offer a more tailored account to you. By not reading news based in our own communities we are unable to truly understand how the events being discussed effect our homes. We open the door for national establishments to support measures that may end up hurting our own communities, and worst of all this can result in us even supporting the very measures that do not serve our own interests. It is important for us to understand the impact an issue can have on our communities, because one’s local community is the one that impacts us the most. Local newspapers protect our interests, they argue on behalf of a community and ask questions that allow us as readers to form positions that will benefit our daily lives.
I understand that thus far I have only discussed an issue that could still be solved with electronic news, local writers can still post, and local papers have websites. But the loss of print journalism has a much deeper impact than the loss of local culture and foggier ideas of self-interest. An important aspect of a newspaper is that they are bound by the market. For a newspaper to be successful they must sell as many papers within their city as possible. In order to do this they must appeal to the largest base possible. Within cities it is fair to assume the presence of both liberal and conservative individuals. A newspaper wants to be able to sell to both parties, in order to do this they must be able to offer an account that is agreeable to readers all across the political spectrum. If a newspaper becomes too liberal leaning it will lose its base with conservatives and thus lose money. If a paper becomes too conservative leaning it will lose its base with liberals and again lose money. Thus in order to optimize the profitability of the newspaper journalist can never stray too far from the middle. The market then protects readers from falling into a news bubble where one only reads news agreeable to their views, because readers across the city will not always share the same beliefs. I feel this is a key element of news that we have begun to lose. The purpose of reading the news is to stay informed, I agree this is true, but I also feel a major element of news in general is to encourage respectful discourse between individuals and therefor help develop ideas within their readership. Our current system of electronic news does not account for this. The goal of online news is not to provide an article that encourages you to share ideas with those who may not agree, but instead to provide an article that you find pleasing, in an effort to encourage your future return to their site. The current system of online news sources is not held in check by the market, they instead target certain groups, Fox News writes from a conservative point of view, while MSNBC writes from a liberal point of view. The majority of each site’s readership is consistent and dedicated because the sites only write articles the readers are likely to support. The two sites will not have to compete for readers because the population of people willing to read both sites on such opposing ends of the political spectrum is so small. Therefore there is no force pulling the ideology of these sites back towards the middle.
The presence of this system breeds ideological bubbles, because we only read what we agree with, we are less likely to understand how the other side sees the issue. The opposing ideology seems foreign to us, we have been conditioned that what we are reading is correct and we therefore assume that those disagreeing with it are, either wrong, ignorant, or misinformed. Because there is no actual product to be sold in coffee shops and gas stations news sites can position themselves further along the political spectrum and await the readers to find them, while physical newspapers must choose a position near the middle in hope that more people will pick up their paper and buy it. Online newsites tie themselves to a base, while a newspaper must serve the needs of both bases. The online system is a death sentence for civil discourse, by hindering our ability to understand issues from the other side, we further polarize ourselves.
While we have now stepped into a society where the accessibility of a product means more to us than its reliability, I feel it is important to step back and realize what we are giving up. Is it frustrating having to wait for a morning paper? Yes. Isn’t the production of newspapers bad for the environment? Yes. Couldn’t I just look this up on my phone? Yes. But we have to realize that by falling into the trap of ideological bubbles in our news sources we are limiting everything from our world view to our understanding of ourselves. But newspapers offer us an alternative, they give us an opportunity to understand what the other side believes. Newspapers offer us an opportunity to no longer argue with our neighbor but to learn from them. Arthur Miller wrote “A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself” I fear we have begun the process of muffling that voice, and we must allow ourselves to hear it again if we ever hope to improve as a people.
Commentary presented here is not necessarily a reflection of the McConnell Center. Thoughts are those of the author.