This week we covered the topic of Newspaper and the importance of credibility in news. I have always been fascinated with newspapers, which is totally weird, but as a kid I wasn’t super interested in watching the news or keeping up with the news in any way. When my dad or grandparents would read the newspaper though, I would always smell it (I know, ew) and really take in the texture of the pages. Something about the paper made me feel connected, to something I couldn’t comprehend. It made me feel older, to have all that information in the palms of my hands. Sadly, newspaper is hardly appreciated and valued as it once was. Information that you had to pay for that was highly consumed is now a has been compared to online news, social media, and television.
The episodes of The Wire that we watched in class really highlighted the harsh reality of the press. Reporting on true information, not just for story and talk, is so important. “Truth is the best defense against liable”, as we heard this week, means if things ever happen to get legal, truth is the only thing that will protect you. False information spreads like wildfire, especially with the change of mediums to consume it. We have everything we want honestly, just in the palm of our hand, so you can imagine that newspapers in a few years will really not be doing good. In my opinion I think magazines will always stick around, for places like waiting rooms, offices, nail salons and places like that. People would rather look at images in magazines than read in the paper, in my opinion. Do you think magazines for example, will fall out of style and demand similar to newspapers? Do you see them staying around longer?
Mass Media and American Life 
I guess I like the smell of a newspaper, as well. 😉 Your memory reminded me of my grandparents. They always used to save sections of the newspapers and mail them to us. If you made the paper, well then you were famous for a little while! They read a variety of newspapers from major newspapers, to local, and even the tabloids. As I write this, I am realizing how much newspapers were/are valued as a way for them to stay connected. I like your transition to magazines and how they may be seeing a similar demise as the newspaper. I always enjoyed looking at magazines more than newspapers mostly because of the pictures and designs. To answer your question, I think magazines will stick around longer than newspapers, but I don’t think that there will be much emphasis on articles. It seems that a lot of magazines are mostly pictures. I find it difficult to want to subscribe to an online magazine. I guess I still like getting those in the mail, even if it is to look at the pictures.
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I always love the smell/texture of the newspaper! My mom has kept the newspaper from the day I was born and one of my favorite things, when she’d show it to me, was the smell. It smelled old and comforting, and the paper felt the same. As far as your question about magazines goes, I think I agree they’ll take longer to disappear than newspapers. I’ve seen more middle-aged people attracted to magazines and tabloids than newspapers so I would give it one more generation than newspapers. Lots of people love the kind of drama that comes from them and I feel it’s a little harder to find as much of that online. Plus the isles to check out in stores always make sure you can at least read their headlines so I feel they have a bit more advertising for the media.
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You make a lot of great points. And I understand where you’re coming from about magazines because they are always around in those places. But I think they will die out as well. Magazines are good for mindless flipping through. They have nice pictures to look at and share surface-level information. Instagram alone is a perfect replacement for that. And there are plenty of other places on your phone to find similar things: Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat stories, etc. And I think that is already happening. I see magazines laying around waiting rooms, yet, when you actually look at what people are doing, they are usually on their phones.
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I have always felt the same weird nostalgia with newspapers! False information does spread like wildfire and once it’s reported on.. it feels like there’s no going back. I do not feel like Magazines will ‘go out of style’ as newspapers did. (At least I really hope they don’t!!) But I just don’t see that happening as long as they remain eye-catching and appealing.
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I agree with you when saying that this show really openes your eyes to the press. How they really are in reality is very different than how we are taught. Focusing more on whats true instead of what people want to hear.
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