Print Journalism’s March of Death
EMILY KONG
Co-Opinions Editor
The contributing factors of electronic access and our dwindling economy have taken a toll on the age-old institution of print journalism. Even though we may not realize it, readership from some of the country’s most prestigious newspapers have fallen drastically; people younger than forty have become unaware of what a real newspaper looks or feels like.
In October 2009, the Los Angeles Times printed an article that made it apparent that the average circulation at about 400 daily newspapers had decreased because readers turned to the Internet instead. Nowadays, people choose to read the biggest headlines on their homepages and follow links to opinionated blogs to gain some perspective. These people would rather turn to an electronic screen for news while their apathetic compatriots just choose not to purchase a newspaper. It seems like it will only be a matter of time before newspapers follow the dinosaurs and disappear.
As a victim of the changing times, The Moor’s one hundred years of tradition could possibly follow in the footsteps of print journalism march of death.
From the days of the popular press, when newspapers were finally introduced as objective entities, to the present, when television and the Internet dominate our lives, we have witnessed the evolution of journalism. The Moor has also changed from its earliest days. Throughout the last couple of years, The Moor has become a self-sufficient, student-run publication. Our entire staff receives no funding from our ASB (Associated Student Body) and therefore must put forth the effort to fundraise on our own.
Through our endless endeavors to keep printing, our staff has come to realize just how important it is to persevere through hard times in order to continue our tradition of print.
Despite the fact that our newspaper is not distributed to all of America, we like to think that it holds some prestige within our small community. We may not be the Los Angeles Times or The Wall Street Journal, but we share many of the same problems they do. We do not have the same readership or influence, but it has become obvious that what we share is the eventual death of our publications. Besides, who needs newspapers when everything is accessible at the click of a mouse?
In the past, newspapers were the people’s one source of voicing how they felt about things such as freedom and liberty. One sad reality is that we, as products of the digital generation, have underestimated just how much of an impact journalism has.
The Moor is self-sufficient and so it does not receive the help often needed. We have often considered what would happen if we stopped printing and relied on the Internet as our means of communication. There have been times when we had no other option except to stop our printing, simply because the money wasn’t there. We have not ruled out the option of using a website, but we have all agreed that it is equally important to focus ourselves on preserving the tradition of actually having a printed newspaper in our hands.
We are painfully aware of the facts that our school’s readers have lost interest and are not as enthusiastic about their newspaper as we would hope, but no matter what, The Moor will try its absolute best to continue our tradition of printing and upholding the standards to which we are accustomed. Money will not stop our staff from expressing itself and representing our peers. They say print journalism is dead. However, The Moor promises you that we will prove otherwise.