Sharpe's Opinion
Tuesday, 17th Mar, 2009
Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism
Clay Shirky writes a fantastic essay on revolutions and the demise of the newspaper.
When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to.
There are fewer and fewer people who can convincingly tell such a lie.
I think there’s only one thing standing in the way of forsaking newspapers altogether: there’s no simple way to reward ‘citizen journalists’ financially for the work they do. When people can make money blogging, you can kiss newspapers goodbye forever.
And not a moment too soon.
Comments
Newspapers are living in the past and are increasingly desperate to maintain their grip on the media, despite the growing influence of blogs.
The whole notion of news coming once a day with a select band of commentators (of variable quality) offering extra analysis is already on life support.
Be careful what you wish for, though. As the fellow says in the linked article, the systems aren’t in place to replace what the newspapers do. Nobody outside the media is getting paid for sitting in courtrooms or council meetings and reporting on the goings on.
Until we figure out a way of monetising these activities, we’ll have a vacuum of information at ground level.
Yes! I have been thinking about this for a while but not quite crystallised it down. Good post. I sense an increasing disillusionment with the mainstream news and opinion providers. The speed of news delivery and massive increase in the diversity of people’s lives means that one paper per day or one TV news bulletin just does not provide the range that people want any more. This even goes for people who aren’t current affairs obsessed.
Blue Eyes
March 17, 2009 at 9:32 am