How Do You Get Your News?

The recent news topic that I chose for this assignment was Time, Inc.’s shutting down of the popular Life magazine brand that had just recently been resuscitated in 2004. The first source that I found for this matter was an Associated Press article in The Buffalo News, and the second was an online article on the Reuters website.

In looking at the printed newspaper version, I noticed that the article was very information-driven, and laid out in a concise manner to emphasize and present simply the necessary news. The first three paragraphs consisted of what happened or why there is a story; citing the “decline in the newspaper business and poor advertising outlook” as its grounds for making the decision to cut Life, Time said that it would “keep the Life brand going on the internet.” Furthermore, the next two paragraphs of the article stay consistent with the information-driven format, stating that Life was carried in 103 newspapers and was altogether shut down three times due to various competitions. Finally, the last two paragraphs of the newspaper article give a brief history of Life, providing its roots dating back to 1936 and its six year suspension in the 1970s. Overall, the newspaper article comes across as nothing more than the news – simple, accurate, and what the reader needs to know or the bottom line.

Interestingly enough, there was a stark contrast that I found to the printed version of the article in reading the electronic version. While I mentioned that the printed article focused almost exclusively on the facts and the bottom line, the online article had much more of a conversational style that touched upon the future of the online version of Life, and even the effect that the change had on certain employees. Despite being posted almost 24 hours before the newspaper article was printed, the electronic article was a bit longer and generally included more information. Beginning in a similar manner to the print version with simply the facts, the online article quickly delves into block quotes from Ann Moore, Time Inc. Chief Executive, and spokeswoman Dawn Bridges about the number of employees being laid off. Furthermore, the article gets quite personal at times: “The company plans to keep Managing Editor Bill Shapiro, Executive Editor Maggie Murphy, President Andy Blau and Publisher Peter Bauer, she [Bridges] said" (Reuters, 2007). Conversely, the newspaper version made no mention of employee lay-offs or any employee names. The final few paragraphs of the electronic article touch on the 10 million Life images that are said will be posted online as part of an imagery collection of the 20th century, followed by a quick analysis of jobs cut compared to its workforce quantity.

Moving forward, I found that, at least in this particular example, there is an easily identifiable difference between the way printed sources and electronic sources report on the same story. While newspapers, possibly because of the limited space and logistics of the paper, seem to stick to only the facts necessary for comprehension of the story, online media seems to have the ability to more easily explain further details that are not necessary for comprehension, but may bring flavor and unique voice to the story.

Moreover, I was surprised to read that despite how much more quickly online news can be received, studies have shown that newspapers are not dying at all (Edmonds, 2007). In fact, Lynn (2001) recorded that online readers were more likely to skip over national, international, and political news, or “front section” news, than newspaper readers. Furthermore, Edmonds (2007) goes on to state that while newspapers are focusing more and more on developing their online journalism each day, it is still unclear whether the Web will be able to generate enough money to support journalism as we know it in print.

In my personal opinion, Edmonds' words ring true when discussing this issue; first, there is little evidence to show that online news can generate enough revenue to wipe out newspapers completely. Secondly, I personally believe that there are still enough people who like to hold their newspaper in their hands each morning, and just like with any new technology, there is an adjustment period. The question which remains to be seen is how long it will take us to adjust to only-online news, if ever.


References:

Associated Press. (2007, March 27). Time pulls plug on Life, again. The Buffalo News, p. A10.

Edmonds, R. (2007). Newspapers: Intro. The State of the News Media 2007: An Annual Report on American Journalism. Retrieved March 28, 2007, from http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2007/narrative_newspapers_intro.asp?media=3

Lynn, A. (2001, February 1). People get more ‘top’ news in print than by computer, study shows. News Bureau, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved March 28, 2007, from http://www.news.uiuc.edu/gentips/01/02netnews.html

Reuters. (2007, March 26). Time Inc. to end Life magazine but keep it online. Retrieved March 28, 2007, from http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN2636650120070326?pageNumber=1