Well here I am blogging along with all the other billion bloggers in the blogosphere and I have to wonder if the democratization of communication is all that it's cracked up to be. What do I have to say that's so damn important? Is this an opportunity for me to share something that will enlighten others or is it merely my chance to shake my rattle in the vastness of cyberspace where no one can hear you scream unless you post a podcast of video of the aforementioned scream?
After reading about the demise of various newspapers around the country, I'm concerned about the way we collect and access information. Newspapers have been a daily ritual for me since I was a child when my father worked for the Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News. The paper has been an invaluable resource for information and an effective watchdog for both corporate and government doings. If the newspaper, as we know, shrivels, where will we be able to read, not watch on TV, substantive information? Do I not have enough faith in the new media to shoulder the responsibility and respect newspapers have held or will this new media broaden or at least maintain that same respect?
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Someday folks may feel about blogging the way you feel about newspapers... hmm, actually maybe not. Blogging is not as public or as informed, but it does fill a need, or maybe a void... which is why it came along in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you are saying though. It seems that we have more and more resources for unsubstantive information.
I, myself, am caught in the middle. I see how both forms of information can be useful and meaningful, but also how both definitely have faults.