9.25.2011

PAGE ONE or WEB PAGE ONE


I'm a documentary nut. So, you can imagine my reaction when my journalism instructor announced that instead of being in the classroom on Friday, we would be heading to the Cinematique to watch Page One: Inside The New York Times. Watching a documentary, instead of being in the classroom. I say it every day, but, I LOVE CreComm.

The film follows several Times journalists in the recent era of an extreme shift in the journalism world: a decrease in demand for print, the decline of print advertising sales and the rapid popularity of online news. It explores the inevitable question of where and will print exist in face of one of the biggest transformation in the history of journalism.

Admittedly, the first thing I do in the morning after shutting off my alarm is, still cocooned in my sheets, open my Twitter app and see whats going on in the world. I want to know what I've missed while I was asleep and what progress has been made with news stories I've abandoned for some shut eye the night before. I'm a social media junkie. I love to be connected, educated and have the freedom to be opinionated. The digital landscape lets me do all of these things.

However. I love books. When I read a book that moves me, I make an effort to give that book to a friend. Books should be read, reread, shared and discussed. They should give rise to new dialogue, new ideas and new perspectives. For me, no tablet or ipad will ever replace my beloved book. My argument rests in the simple fact that I will never take my ipad into the bubble bath. 

I propose that print and digital co-exist. Digital will become inevitably more prevalent but the romanticism and nostalgic element of print will never die. 

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