By The Beacon Editorial Board
Facebook. MySpace. Twitter.
Let's face it: We're an Internet-obsessed society. We book our flights online, pay our bills online and watch TV shows and movies online.
We can also get our news online - and that's great - for the most part.
According to a recent New York Times article, newspapers around the country are suffering through the worst slump since the Depression.
While the nation's newspapers are experiencing a long decline in hard copy newspaper circulation, the readership of their online news sources is rapidly rising.
For print media, the proliferation of online media is a double-edged sword: It puts news readily at the fingertips of media consumers which in turn creates an ever-widening gap between the physical, hard copy papers and the consumer.
The online frenzy of breaking news updates and multiple news Web sites might not be enough to keep the newspaper franchise in business.
Despite the popularity of online news, the nation's newspapers are realizing that they are trying to row an outdated boat with too many rust spots and holes.
To imagine that the newspaper could one day cease to exist is more than an unfathomable anomaly; it's a thought that could potentially destroy the creation and distribution of news.
Historically, newspapers are known to generate news that other media arenas follow. Its age-old practice of seeking and reporting the truth creates a wealth of knowledge that rotates on a daily, and with the invention and popularity of the Internet, hourly basis.
TV news media venues do not "create" news like the newspaper does; it simply reports what the newspapers publish early in the morning.
News bloggers create their blog spots based off of the hard work of journalists around the nation.
If newspapers go away, no one will be out there with a watchful eye and dutiful pen, maintaining checks and balances of the inner and outer workings of the counrty.
If newspapers go away, people won't have access to a mouthpiece to express their concerns, wishes and wants. People lose a vital vehicle for criticism and ideas. Without the newspaper, the marketplace of ideas is diminished, stifling creativity and innovation for debate, deliberation and collaboration.
If newspapers go away, the goings-on of the federal, state and local governments proceed unbeknownst to the population.
From the poorest country to the richest, academic research points out that newspapers mobilize the public and put pressure on government and businesses in favor of public good.
If this watch dog needs to go onto the web, so be it. It is better to have the circulation of responsible information than no circulation at all. That's the caveat though; with the Twitter-Facebook-Myspace craze, how can the public know what's truth, what's a half-truth and what lacks any inkling of truth?
We recommend that you read with a skeptic eye; carry a grain of salt in your pocket every time your home page opens up screaming with head lines about the war in Iraq or the latest celebrity mishap. Use your analytical minds that UP has fostered to keep the newspaper alive.
