| Journalism is an important piece of our democracy: the fourth estate. However, over the last several years both the economy and the rise of technology have had a negative effect on the backbone of journalism: newspapers. Around the country more and more newspapers are in danger of shutting down, even in large markets such as San Francisco. It is also possible that a large city could be without a newspaper in the coming years. Newspapers in major cities have been able to switch to an online only format, such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. However, in medium and smaller cities, it could prove difficult for a newspaper to move to an online only format.
According to the Burnt Orange Report, newspaper publishers in Texas are considering sharing their content; this is the possible outcome of editors under pressure to produce news with less and less staff. Local media outlets have covered state and local politics less and less over the years; instead newspapers and television stations have focused on crime. In turn there are less and less journalist covering state politics in Austin, which means that politicians, lobbyist, and influential citizens will be questioned less and less.
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| The problems within the newspaper industry are not only affecting journalist. The Waco Tribune-Herald announced last month that it was cutting 43 pressroom and mailroom positions, and Saturday was the last run of papers to be printed in Waco. A profession that has been passed down from generation to generation, and that has also evolved with technology, if fading away as more and more newspapers are forced to make cuts in their pressrooms.
The American Journalism Review recently published an article about cities without newspapers; the AJR cites a study that notes that even small newspapers have a "substantial and measurable impact on public life." The study noted that the closing of a newspaper could lower voter turnout and could lower the amount of candidates for public office. The article raised several intriguing questions:
If the dead-tree edition of a newspaper falls in a crowded media forest, will it matter, except to the journalists who work there? Are newer, hipper online news outlets poised to fill the void? What, if anything, will be irrevocably lost?
The article did note that the amount of press coverage a member of congress receives from local media directly coordinates to how active there are in representing their constituents. A lawmaker that receives a hire amount of scrutiny is more likely to bring federal funding for projects to their districts, and less likely to consistently vote along party lines.
In an article in Texas Monthly Paul Burka explained why this same premise matter when considering the shrinking press corps in Austin:
"Does the shrinking of the press corps matter? Absolutely. It's the boots-on-the-ground principle. The more troops you have, and the more visible they are, the more the bad guys fear you and the less likely they are to do mischief...The presence of reporters at public meetings has a chilling effect on those who would do public harm. That presence is irregular at best today."
What do Americans think about local newspapers? A Pew Research Center poll noted that "fewer than half of Americans (43%) say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community 'a lot.'" Although how often people read their local newspaper has not changed much over the last ten years; according to a Gallup Poll, 9% of Americans get their news from local newspapers and that percentage has remained roughly the same over the last decade. However, the amount of Americans that get their news from national newspapers has fallen from 54% to 40% in the last ten years.
Of course there are political blogs (such as Left of College Station), however, citizen journalists do not have the time or resources to cover what the mainstream media should be covering. Blogs have been able to affect the direction of politics and the media; the Huffington Post has a correspondent in the White House press room. Despite the success of some blog, the majority of bloggers are laboring with limited resources and blogging around their day job. Perhaps the most important aspect is the protections that journalist have that bloggers do not have. Not that we are not protected under the First Amendment, but that we do not have the legal and financial resources to protect ourselves under the great weight of being compelled to revealed sources or law suits brought by corporate interests. We need newspapers and professional journalist because although sunlight may be the best disinfectant, it can also burn the hell out of anyone that happens to be in the way.
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
-Thomas Jefferson
Political and Social Thought...
to the Left of College Station |
