A farewell to an institution…

Today is a red-letter day in Seattle. It is the first day in 146 years that you cannot get a hard copy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

 

I, as a blogger, feel a part of the paradigm shift that has caused the downfall of a Seattle institution.

 

The 146-year bastion of journalism succumbed to the pressures of the twittering-blogging-facebooking-I-need-info-now-regardless-of-the-source that is the modern American public.

 

I was raised on the P-I and I love(d) the paper. My dad maintained a subscription for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite past-times was settling-in with the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee in-hand and catching-up on the goings-on around town and in the world.

 

My love of the P-I sparked more than a few arguments as I attended Western Washington University and obtained a degree in Journalism. The Joe Friday, ‘Just the facts ma’am’ style of writing that you are reading right now was heavily influenced by the reporting in the P-I.

 

I’ve always described the difference between the P-I and the Seattle Times as this:

-If you want to hear the: who, what where, when and why (aka the 5 W’s) read the P-I.

-If you want to read some lame-ass human interest story about the event 3 days after the fact, read the Times.

 

I steadfastly believe that description of Seattle’s two dailies. In fact, I am utterly disgusted that the ‘Times’ is the journalistic representative of Seattle to the world.

 

In my mind, it’s like MTV News beating-out CNN.

 

Overall, I am happy that Seattle still has at least one daily newspaper.

 

I do think that a vigorous, non-blog-based, professional local journalistic presence is vital to a community.

 

I fear what will come from a world unregulated by editors or journalistic safeguards.

 

Print journalism (for the most part) kept everyone (including the reporters) honest.

 

Speed, as with cars, is impressive, but rarely safe.

 

The old adage of ‘Haste makes waste’ rings horribly true here.

 

Journalism, not just print, is being replaced by quick fixes and entertainment.

 

It’s too late for the P-I, but I hope we all learn from its demise. There is a value to waiting until 6 AM for your news.

 

It’s important to note that it is not a reporter’s job to filter the news, it is the job of journalists to make sure what you are reading is as correct as it can be.

 

The P-I did that well for over 140 years, and I truly and honestly appreciate it.

Last of a dying breed.

As I sit here reading my Sunday paper, per my Sunday ritual, I am bothered by a statement that I heard yesterday in reference to newspapers:

“They’re kinda dying anyways, so who cares?”

As a trained/wanna-be journalist, hearing such things cuts me to the core.

And although I am not going to argue the point, as I agree that newspapers are dying, I wanted to give newspapers and journalism their due.

I also realize that as a blogger I am part of the perceived “problem.” But I think of electronic journalism as the grandson of newspapers.

The printing press represents the grandfather, as it was the first real-step toward mass communication and wide-spread newspaper distribution. The father was the wire service(s), allowing newspapers to spread/share information at speeds previously unfathomed. The wire(s) allowed newspapers to share information from all around the world, making newspapers national/global in scope. And we’ve now arrived that the electronic age, probably the greatest step away from “traditional” journalism. The e-movement had banished newspaperman staples like typewriters, 35mm cameras and in some cases, even pen and paper.

While newspaper subscriptions and readerships rates may be declining, online readership is up. And I see that as hopeful, not a woeful indication of a slow and painful death.

This is because the move to electronic journalism is simply evolution. Much the way newspaper production has gone electronic, it only follows that consumption will follow the same route.

The newspaper will never die. The journalistic tradition of sharing information is the guiding light of all journalists- From Bob Woodward to Perez Hilton…yeah it pains me to say that.

While objectivity and grammar make take a bit of a hit as anyone with something to say and a connection to the internet can post their rants to the tubes, I am offering that the press is freer now than in its hey-day. The important distinction to make is between well-meaning journalists and people with an axe to grind. Which is not to say that all journalists are objective or that all bloggers are crack pots, it just means that consumers must be savvy when reading what is posted online.

I think the current incarnation of the Iraq War has taught Americans that the day of pre-packaged, edited and safe for consumption news is over. The new frontier of news is one of an educated populace as well as an educated journalist.

Early newspapers were expensive to produce and the barriers to creating/distributing them were great. Another little known aspect of early American newspapers is that they were decidedly partisan. They were not objective. These newspapers were produced to serve a finite purpose…not to be the 4th branch of government, but to further some political/financial goal of the producer.

The blessing and the curse of online journalism is that anyone can share their ideas as the barriers are considerably lessened. Nearly anyone can stroll into a library, hop online and blog. This is far closer to the idea of free press than the founding fathers or early newspaper tycoons could have comprehended. In much the same way newspapers evolved from self-interested soapboxes to objective watchdogs, electronic journalism, if allowed to mature, will go the same route.

Sadly newspapers are dying. But they have laid the foundation for the next generation of journalists. Who will not only carry-on a legacy but learn from previous missteps.

So don’t dismiss the newspaper sitting on the table next to you at the coffee shop. See it for what it is; a paradigm-shifting medium that has changed the way people communicate with each other, that is still so relevant that it’s shaping its replacement.