Media failure

Many news articles lately wonder about the demise of printed newspapers. Just the very fact that the newspapers and media are somewhat puzzled about this trend is sufficient to explain the problem. They are out of touch with their readers. Readers have moved on and I'm one of them.

Giving up the printed newspaper was very easy. First I never liked the format of the newspaper. It was large and unwieldy to handle and turning pages was a noisy cumbersome problem. Then focus on the front page demanded that a column started there and then continued on some other page forcing me to flip back and forth in this unwieldy format. Further the cost of the newspaper was about 1/2 the cost of my internet which is much more convenient and offers so much more.

A trend that also drives me away from broadcast news, cable news, newspapers, and the radio is this. A single story can so dominate the media reporting that it seems there is nothing else going on in the world. Lately it has been the earthquake in Haiti. I sent in my donation, don't intend to go to Haiti any time soon, don't have any friends or relatives there, am familiar with earthquakes (living in California) and that's the end of it. For days media of all types were flooded with facts that seemed so logical they didn't need to be printed or reported. People were crushed and killed, some people were found alive after many days, food and water are in short supply, many people are going there to help, and shelter is a key challenge for the people. Sorry folks this isn't news. It is the general nature of a major earthquake. Does it need to be reported? Yes. But it shouldn't be the lead story or ONLY story for days on end. You'd think suddenly the earth didn't have a 25 thousand mile circumference or there weren't 6 billion people on the earth. Local, national, international, business and other news is simply pushed aside so the stations can compete using the same single story. They are competing themselves out of a job.

So I turn to the internet allowing me to pick what I think is news. We've stopped delivery of the newspaper, have pretty much given up on TV news, and are relying on the internet for news of all types. Newspapers are trying desperately to figure out how to get paid for their on-line content. Sorry folks but I wouldn't pay for this dribble. If you ask me to pay I'll simply find another alternative or simply stop looking for news. It isn't going to change my life.

Another trend in the recent decade is to report yesterday's news as if it happened today. Somehow the media just has to be working to convince me that they have the latest news and are willing to bend the truth a little to that end. It is common for me to read something on the internet Monday afternoon, then hear it reported on the radio on Tuesday morning as happening "today." As if that wasn't enough they abandon news altogether and turn to speculation.

Now the media is trying to predict what will happen in the business world, politics, and other topics by reaching into the future with so called experts. This isn't news and it dominates the media recently.

Sometimes I long for the days when news didn't travel so fast. Times when it took a day or more for a story to reach the media and be reported. Then it was news because the event had happened, is in the past, and as much detail as necessary for a good story could be compiled without speculation.

Finally I've long been irritated by the celebrity focus on the reporters themselves. I want the news and nothing but the news. The reporters aren't my focus when I am seeking news. I don't care if they had a baby, or got an award (from their own industry that is out of touch with the people), or they went to Cambodia. Often the reporters are just reading copy and don't do any research. Their celebrity status is of their own making and is once again a competitive component that has nothing to do with the news. The only reason to pay attention to the reporter is some have personality matches to mine and some do not. I like Diane Sawyer but despise Barbara Walters - it's just my take, but if I know who is on I can tune in or avoid.

So I'm not surprised newspapers are closing their doors all around the country. They shouldn't be either.

I like a brief overview and UsaToday.com suits me fine, although that site also has some of the above mentioned weaknesses. Yet it is brief and easy to scan for the news I want.

I have to say National Public Radio and American Public Media seem to be the exception in all of this. They don't focus much attention on their reporters, have a wide variety of programs and topics, and being commercial free is such a relief. They do have many of the above listed weaknesses but the incidents are well below the norm. However for years I called NPR "Radio Iraq" for their strong liberal focus on the war in Iraq.

I have to overlook the liberal bent of NPR so I can enjoy the rest of thprogramming. I totally avoid some programming because of that liberal slant. Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr is unbelievably liberal. It turns my stomach and is cause for changing channels or jumping to a different podcast. Daniel Schorr is as liberal as Rush Limbaugh is conservative.

I think I'll send NPR some money.