My local newspaper is going through drastic changes. It has suffered in the past few years as more and more subscribers choose all-news cable channels and the Internet over the traditional print medium. Staff cuts and a myriad of content and format changes have given it a whole new character--still effective, and still primarily a vehicle for hard news, but decidedly different in its delivery.
This newspaper is far from alone in its quest to remain relevant in an ever-more virtual world. Similar changes are descending on newspapers across the U.S. and other developed nations. Undoubtedly, some will ultimately survive while others die off.
While the newspaper industry is the one most severely affected by the popularity of online media, other types of publishing have felt the impact, too. More and more magazines and professional and academic journals are considering moving entirely out of physical print. Some have already made the switch to an exclusively electronic format.
Doomsayers warn that print is fated to die, that print media cannot outlast their electronic counterparts. Personally, I don't disagree, but I'm less pessimistic about the timing of print's demise. Despite all the benefits of electronic media, I just can't see traditional print media becoming obsolete within a generation, or perhaps longer.
Across the country, people still relish a leisurely start to the day with a cup of coffee and a perusal of the latest headlines--and they do it without turning on their TVs or PCs. They still work the daily crossword puzzle using a graphite pencil. They still clip amazing stories, announcements of honors, and obituaries and paste them in bound scrapbooks. BlackBerries and advanced, feature-packed cell phones may have made online newspapers more portable, accessible, convenient, or compact, but they have not dislodged the nostalgia and permanence we associate with paper.
Likewise, a Kindle may deliver the actual words of our favorite fiction writers just effectively as its printed twin, but it just doesn't feel the same. Curl up in bed with one: the glow of a hand-held electronic reader does not equal the warmth of a simple paperback. And it doesn't convey a sense of community and shared enjoyment as a well-thumbed library book does.
For the publishing world, our emotional connection to paper and our reluctance to break with what we have known for so long is good news on an otherwise bleak horizon. Print industries will evolve to meet changing wants and needs of their audiences; they must if they are to survive. But we are a nostalgic culture. I'll bet our sentimentality alone will buy those industries the time they need to adjust.
In the next issue of Word-wise, we'll look at how online news and its culture contributes to changes in our language. Readers, you are invited to weigh in with your thoughts on both "Words in the News" topics.
© 2009 by AnnaLisa Michalski