The Internet is Harming Print Media

As soon as I read that this blog post was open, I got really excited because I have a strong opinion and attitude towards this topic. I am going to focus on how the Internet is harming the print media. The reason why I have such a big opinion towards this topic is because I can relate to it. My brother graduated from Michigan State University with a Journalism degree. The whole time my brother was in school, my parents would tell him that maybe he should switch his major before it is too late. They weren't telling him this because they didn't think he could make it as a journalist, but because of how much print media has died the past few years. The main reason for it dying is because of the Internet. The Internet allows people to learn about information whenever they want to receive it. This information can include news, sports, entertainment, music, etc... Back to brother's situation, he graduated from MSU with a 3.6 grade point average in journalism. However, once he graduated, he couldn't find a job that related to journalism. He has found a job that is through marketing because of his experience in college but he wished he would of received a job through journalism. Overall, the Internet has "OUT-POWERED" the print media, which has led to a downfall in newspaper sales.

Even though I am against the Internet and how they have taken over as the main source to gain access on information, I am a victim of this. When you need to find information as soon as possible, where do you look? Don't worry because I agree with you that it's the Internet. I am not denying that the Internet has a lot of different advancements and advantages over the print media. As soon as a story develops, it is posted all over the Internet before a newspaper can even have it edited and published. Like Clay Shirky said in their article "Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable," "The problem newspapers face isn't that they didn't see the Internet coming...they came up with not just one plan but several." Newspapers saw the Internet coming, but they didn't expect for all of their plans to not work. Shirky put it into perfect reasoning by saying, "The unthinkable scenario unfolded." That is exactly what happened and severely hurt the print media. Everything that the print media planned and set up ended up failing and it gave the Internet a huge advantage.

People continue to ask, "Well, why doesn't the press media and newspaper try to change the dominance of the Internet?" They have tried. They have tried everything in their power to gain improvements and to catch up to the Internet. Shirky says, "Nothing will work. There is no general model for newspapers to replace the one the Internet just broke." So what should journalists and people in my situation do? Nothing. The only thing we can do is hope that print media makes a huge, dramatic comeback that will challenge the Internet. So for now, I will continue to pout and complain about how the Internet has taken the place of print media. But, I will continue to use the Internet for research information and be a hypocrite. I was planning on becoming a journalism major, but smartly changed my mind due to the recent decline in newspapers.

I found this article very interesting because it's another category in which the Internet has officially surpassed newspapers. The Internet has officially surpassed newspapers in advertisements. The link below explains the exact information of newspaper ads compared to internet ads. http://sodarocketmarketing.com/its-official-internet-ads-surpass-newspaper-ads