Walking through the hallways of various buildings on campus, I always see them; they are stacked just as high as they were when they were dropped off. Why take something that is going to tell you what you get on your phone? Why take something that is destroying the environment? Why even care about the news?
These are questions I have heard time after time from people while talking about the current status of the newspaper, and they aren’t exactly bad questions. With the technology we have today, you get constant updates on your phone from news apps you download. In some cases, the updates come from apps of the newspapers you walk by on a daily basis.
The death of the physical newspaper is quickly approaching, and for our generation, sadly, we don’t really notice it because of the spoils of technology. Sitting in class, I get about five different updates ranging from the amazing shot Steph Curry made last night to updates about the upcoming presidential election.
A very relatable example of this is staring you in the eyes as you read this on whatever medium you choose. Starting this semester, the Crimson White has only been printing two times a week. For decades, the CW used to print four times a week, Monday through Thursday, with a traditional newspaper look as well. Now the CW uses a variety of colors, photos, and fancy font headlines to get more people to pick the paper up. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that this is bad in any way, but it shows how print is changing just to keep up with the accessibility of online news sources.
Online newspaper publications are not helping either. Certain newspapers and websites allow the reader to receive the same articles you would get in a paper on a website for a subscription fee.
You may be asking why I care so much, “it’s just the direction the business is going in.” I’m not mad at the movement, I am mad at the people within the movement.
My fear is that journalism is going to turn into nothing but clickbait trying to get paid per view on a website. I am afraid that journalistic integrity is going to turn from actual substance of a piece to just the beauty of the headline to get you to maneuver to a website with 15 advertisements on it.
Yes, it’s a fear, and it is a legitimate one as well, but we are not there yet, and hopefully we don’t get there for a while. I would say that there are websites that do this, but for a majority of online news organizations, the content is still alive and well.
So next time you are walking through Morgan Hall or going to study in Gorgas, pick up a copy of USA Today or the New York Times because you never know how much longer they will be there.
Jake Bass is a junior majoring in sports journalism. His column runs biweekly.
