EXTRA! EXTRA!

Where to even begin...
This generation is growing up in a "digital age," where everything is either transforming into digital media or is being created in this form already. Even I admit to passing up a newspaper that is sitting right in front of me, and getting online to view the news. But 5 years ago, I read the newspaper EVERYDAY. To imagine a world with no more newspapers almost seems unimaginable. All I can do is picture a black and white film of a young boy on the corner of the streets of New York with a stack of newspapers yelling "EXTRA! EXTRA!" The "End Times" article mentioned that the death of old media and end of press, "will mean the end of a certain kind of civilized ritual that has defined most of our adult lives." Out of the entire article, this is what caught my attention. Yes, I understand that many of talented writers would possible lose their jobs, journalists and journalism isn't taken too seriously anymore now that everyone is or can be a journalist through posting blogs. In fact many professional reporters actually get a lead on major stories through random blogs that people post..(but we'll get into that later). I work with senior citizens and I wanted their opinion and thoughts on the issue. The majority of them all still read the newspaper every morning with their cup of coffee. What about them, what happens to them. Grant it, most of them also have a computer today and are learning to use it, but an 88 year old woman told me, "Oh I have a computer, but I don't read the news on it, I just play computer games." Many senior citizens will be "forced" to learn this new media, which is necessary but probably a lot more stressful for them. I do foresee it happening though. I'm from Colorado and we had two major newspapers, one already went out of business which was a HUGE shock to me. It was actually very sad. I grew up reading that newspaper and for it to be no more was like taking a part of my childhood away. It's so amazing how media has such an affect on us.

...Back to what I mentioned earlier about everyone having potential to be a journalist. Citizen journalism through youtube and also through everyday blogging makes this possible. Arianna Huffington stated, "itizen journalism is rapidly emerging as an invaluable part of delivering the news. With the expansion of the web and the ever-decreasing size and cost of camera phones and video cameras, the ability to commit acts of journalism is spreading to everyone." Now, there is actually help out there to add quality to what is being put out by citizens. Interestingly enough, the audience doesn't have to wait for the 5 o'clock news, all one has to do is search keywords on the internet, and youtube videos pop up, blogs pop up. I'm beginning to question how long before newstations are facing the same situation as newspapers. Already here in Hawaii we've seen the merging of broadcast stations and the lay off of many employees. The transformation and new level of the internet is so amazing, sometimes scary...