THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI will celebrate the 100th anniversary of their journalism school this year, the country's oldest journalism program. But their school newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, is suffering from the same problems that newspapers across the country are facing: declining revenue and loss of readership. The staff is considering merging with another newspaper or going to an online only version.
Would it be a big deal to lose the print version of the paper? Isn't the Internet the way of the future?
Or is there value in being a physical newspaper?
Would you read The Temple News if it was only online?
15 comments:
I would definitely say there is value in maintaining a physical newspaper only because it is far to easy for things to be lost on the internet. Databases fill, harddrives overflow, bandwidths are stretched to their max, and once all of that happens, what will we have? There's always greater value in things that are tangible, verses script on a blog. At the same time, newspapers are becoming obsolete. Even at Temple, paper documents are fading out, and everything is being put online, somewhere. It would, in fact, be a transition, only because newspapers are what we've been used to.
It would be a defeat for the Columbia Missourian to only post an online version of there newspaper. Declining revenue and loss of readership are issues that are always going to be around because the emergence of the internet and other alternatives. There are other ways to make readers interested, such as advertising or news topics that captivate the reader. Even making it friendlier to the eyes could help. Before just merging, I hope they consider other options.
My name's Mike Maiden by the way, and am in the Journalism and Society class
I view the transition from print to online as a bittersweet, but ultimately inevitable process. I believe this process is inevitable mainly for two reasons: price and ease of use. Most online news is free while most written news is not. Getting the news online is also easier to view and navigate than print, and does not need to be carried around all day.
While this transition may upset some, there are many positives as well, especially at a collegiate level. Of the 18-24 demographic, 15 say they get their news from papers, and 30 from online. By putting news online, you can appeal to more younger people by presenting it in appealing formats, such as video. Make a "hip" 10 minute multimedia presentation of the day's University News, put it on Facebook, and watch how many students view it. Link it to other news, and suddenly students might be spending time surfing news videos instead of friend's profiles. I think you reach a lot more students by embracing web and new media instead of still pushing paper out of nostalgia.
I believe that newspapers going to online can be good and bad. With them going online, people all over the world can read whats is going on in specific areas as opposed to the national newspapers which only cover the big stories from certain areas. Say that I want to read about the Phillies playing the Colorado Rockies from the perspective of a Rockies fan, I could look up a Denver newspaper and read about the game the next day. The downside is that,, aside from printing out the article from the website, you can't walk away from reading it with anything tangible. You can only save it on your computer. Ican't take the computer and nail it to my wall so that I can commorate the Phillies winning the World Series. That would seriously mess up my computer. A physical newspaper cover is what i can do that with. Also, i find that there is something beautiful about and aged piece of newspaper. It is a whole different experience to hold the cover of a newspaper from the day after Pearl Harbor than to pull it up on a computer screen. It just gives you a feeling that you cant get from a computer screen. I, personally, am a fan of the way things are now. I can physically hold a newspaper and read it, but at the same time can look up a paper that I might not subscribe to. And I don't know about you but I'm a little gunshy about taking my laptop into the bathroom with me for some reading material.
Hola, I'm Mark from Journalism & Society Fall '08. I go by Tony though ya'll! I wouldn't read the TU News if it was only online. It is so much easier to pick up a paper on the way in or out of a building, instead of having to sit down at a computer and read it. I'd rather be sitting at my kitchen table, reading the paper and eating a good breakfast!
Hi, my name is Jessica Lista and I am a student in the Journalism and Society Class. I believe that online newspaper is a great way to publish news but I feel I would not read it as much due to the fact I wouldn't see it as often. As I enter my dorm, the newspapers are right there for me to read. If this were not the case, I feel I would actually forget about it. I also like having the newspaper with me to read during my spare time. I like knowing what is going on in my school and the community around me.
Hi, my name is Jessica Lista and I am a student in the Journalism and Society Class. I believe that online newspaper is a great way to publish news but I feel I would not read it as much due to the fact I wouldn't see it as often. As I enter my dorm, the newspapers are right there for me to read. If this were not the case, I feel I would actually forget about it. I also like having the newspaper with me to read during my spare time. I like knowing what is going on in my school and the community around me.
Hi, my name is Jessica Lista and I am a student in the Journalism and Society Class. I believe that online newspaper is a great way to publish news but I feel I would not read it as much due to the fact I wouldn't see it as often. As I enter my dorm, the newspapers are right there for me to read. If this were not the case, I feel I would actually forget about it. I also like having the newspaper with me to read during my spare time. I like knowing what is going on in my school and the community around me.
Hi, my name is Jessica Lista and I am a student in the Journalism and Society Class. I believe that online newspaper is a great way to publish news but I feel I would not read it as much due to the fact I wouldn't see it as often. As I enter my dorm, the newspapers are right there for me to read. If this were not the case, I feel I would actually forget about it. I also like having the newspaper with me to read during my spare time. I like knowing what is going on in my school and the community around me.
Hey, im Matt Fitzpatrick, a freshman and aspiring news ed journalist. The Columbia Missourian's decline is a shame to me. Not that I ever read it but just because it represents journalism as a course of study and the face that it is dying sucks. I like the idea of reading the newspaper, and not the news website. Not that it isn't a good source of news, but it doesn't have quite the same feel as an actual newspaper. If the temple news were only online i don't think i would read it. Simply because I don't have the time. I read the New York Times for my national news, and i hear about most local stuff through word of mouth. Thats my mess of thoughts on the subject.
i'm viannie b.
in the journalism and society class on tues and thurs from 10:10-11:30
:) had to throw that in for the extra credit lol
but i don't like the transition from paper to internet for news papers in general but i know that it has to happen. Right now being 19 years old my interest in the news has increased
as a young adult i want to know whats going on in the world however i know i wont go online
on a regular basis to read the news
i prefer to grab the newspaper from the stand and read it in my spare time.
The magazines i recieve in the mail are my world. i love reaching in that mail box to grab that new issue of ebony or seventeen magazine .... i love to read it on liacouras walk
i love to grab that newspaper lying in the front lobby of my dorm building......
WHAT about the ELDERLY ...? no one has yet to mention them !!! its like we dont give a damn about them ! its like where just thinking hey !society is becoming more technologically advanced day by day so the eldery people out there better get with the program... alot of the elderly dont use computers and look forward to their morning paper that they have been reading for years. i guess where all thinking they could just turn on that television for information .... uh no ! i dont think so
- viannie
Life without a physical newspaper would be devastating for those who do not have access to a computer on a regular basis. Sure they can go to the library but the library does not have the comfort of home and the library is not available 24 hours a day.
Many people have a morning routine that helps them get focus and centered, where they are ready to face the world. The coffee,tea or hot cocoa,and the morning paper. Or the morning commute to work and/or school with the newspaper to pass the time. These things may not mean much to some but for those who can't function otherwise, the lost of the physical newspaper can alter their whole being.
My name is Christine Keene in the 10:10am-11:30am Journalism class tues & thurs
I think the big reason we might always want to have printed news paper is this: there is a social aspect of it, a certain classiness that i dont think its patrons are willing to sacrifice. Sitting at the breakfast table, coffee in hand reading the news paper is a much more noble image of my father than hunched over laptop, coffee on table, clicking away.
I think econmically it is more efficent but aside from that, there is always that society that will be around.
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