Instead of covering envy within the scope of the internet, I was on this occasion inspired to take a leap of faith outside the box: What envies the internet?
Sure, it has stridden into society, quickly and efficiently claiming dominance over many facets of our lives. However, surely there are some parties who are not so satisfied with its success? Surely there is someone who would like to complain about the quick and efficient dominance of the internet, and of society’s willingness to comply with its powerful grasp?
According to Clay Shirky, newspapers should. In his article, ‘Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable’, Shirky addresses the threats that internet journalism poses to the ever-romanticised Sunday morning paper.
Shirky is in clear support for the replacement of newspapers by a newer digital model, and is of the opinion that a revolution in the way the press operates is the result of the international explosion that is the world wide web. However, he offers no solution to the current problem presented by the internet's effect on print journalism. "Who covers all that news if some significant fraction of the currently employed newspaper people lose their jobs? I don't know. Nobody knows. The internet turns 40 this fall. Access by the general public is less than half that age. Web use, as a normal part of life for a majority of the developed world, is less than half that age. We just got here. Even the revolutionaries can't predict what will happen."
Despite not knowing what the future brings, it is undeniable that online journalism offers so much more than TV, radio or newspaper media forms can keep up with. Instead of waiting eagerly, dinner on lap, for the 7 o’clock ABC news (with the ever eager weatherman Mark Carmody, should you be lucky enough to live in Canberra and therefore witness his obscenely large corsages nightly), videos are available online, with the desired news stories accessible at the click of a button. Radio broadcasts are the same, posted on the internet, or even available for subscription in the form of a podcast through Apple’s iTunes.
Newspapers are taking the hardest hit. The Big Scoop that is published in the morning is old news these days; it’s been splashed dramatically across all homepages, talked about on blogs, linked on social networking sites, etc etc. Print media just can’t print as fast as we can type, copy, paste, hit enter.
From the Drudge Report to the less famous online blogger (such as yours truly), internet journalists are growing fast. Qualifications, university degrees and experience in the field of journalism are now no longer needed. So long as one is equipped with an internet connection, their thoughts can be heard (irrelevant of how many are actually listening to aforementioned thoughts).
I feel sorry for print media. With many prophesising its slow descent into nonexistence, my appreciation for newspapers has increased. One prediction (expressed by my English teacher, who had heard it expressed from an unknown source) calculated the last newspaper landing on a doorstep in 2043.
However, Joe Burns isn't a believer in the expiration of print journalism. "Will the Internet obliterate print media? I highly doubt it. Will we get rid of our television sets and radios? Ditto. The Web will just be yet another place to get information and entertainment. That's about it. Oh, yes, it'll make a dent in the current media formats. It's doing that now. But will it kill them altogether? I just can't see it."
Personally, I would like to agree with Burns: I would like to think that the internet is just going to be another source of information, and entertainment, and that the other, more established forms of media will stay around forever.
This is unrealistic. Internet has revolutionised communication, the entertainment industry, the international political landscape, our entire society. We no longer need letters, or phones; we have email, instant messenger, and Skype. We don't need to go and buy CDs or DVDs, they're available for download. Record companies are discovering bright new stars on MySpace music pages. Everyone has an opinion on everything. No degrees, no qualifications. The internet allows enormous, one could argue in some countries, infinite freedom of speech. Who needs surveys, who needs a newsreader, who needs the front page, who needs the feature article?
Despite this, I'm going to miss newspapers. I’ll miss the romantic aspects of newspapers, such as the smell, and the feeling of a fresh copy; not yet dog eared, or torn, or hijacked by noodle-hungry house invaders for the Sudoku. I’ll miss looking forward to Wednesdays, Sundays and Mondays for the Canberra Times (Food & Wine, Relax and the Guide), and weekends of Sydney Morning Herald goodness (I looooove Good Weekend and Sunday Life, spesh the Number Crunch, the quiz, the weird thing where they show you two pictures and a phrase and you have to figure out how they’re linked, and the recipes and Food Mafia).
But, in all honesty, staring at a computer screen and trying to co-ordinate the scrolling so that the right amount of text disappears and reappears at the correct speed is simply not appropriate for weekends. I’m going to admit it: I will dislike internet journalism eradicating newspapers, much like the rabbits eradicated the bilbies, because screens hurt my eyes. And, more than anything else, as one of my very good friends once said: “You cannot sit down on a Sunday morning, with your bacon and eggs, and just scroll.”
LINKS
Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable by Clay Shirky
Net to Crush Newspapers? by Joe Burns
Below: Clay Shirky, Making Digital Durable (but only if you're full of tolerance: the time appears to be over one and a half hours)
