Newspapers and the internet

I should post this article from a few weeks back, about the dubious future of New Jersey newspapers, so I don't forget where it is.

Since I was a little girl, I've heard in school that in "The Future," people would read newspapers in a device they held in their hand, on the bus on the way to work.

 So I don't think anyone in media is shocked that the internet is helping cause the decline of print media.  But I think a lot of us are irked by the nascent stage of a lot of the online reporting, where anything can be posted without checking out the facts.  A federal law allows people who own websites to not be responsible for libelous content posted on those sites by outsiders.  Newspapers don't have that luxury.  We have to check things out before it goes to print.  And once something IS in print, we can't just tap a few bars and delete or change it.

We (newspapers) are adapting to the presence of the internet -- of COURSE it is a good thing that it exists; anything that makes more people aware of important issues, and facilitates their reading about news, is beneficial to society.  Most of us are adapting.  We are putting our articles on line, allowing people to respond instantly, trying to make our websites user friendly.

Journalism is not dying; it's merely evolving and keeping pace with technology.  However, those who are solely internet journalists, who have never worked in print and now run internet 'news' sites, will have to evolve too.  Some have learned that they have to be pretty careful what they post even if they don't get sued...if they show bias, or post too many incorrect facts, or let their comments sections become cruel flame wars, the site loses credibility and just makes people angry.

Journalism, newspapers, and the internet are all evolving together.  Will print media die completely?  Probably someday.  But right now, reading a newspaper on an electronic device is a big pain in the neck.  It's kind of nice to hold the whole thing in your hands.  Electronic newspapers will have to become more navigable and complete in the future, too.  So the medium will evolve for a long time before it settles down.

And then we'll be reading it in those flying cars they also predicted for "The Future."