miércoles, 19 de agosto de 2009

Facing reality...Its all up to us!

After reading the article The News About the Internet by Michael Massing I was simply confused because as we all have different opinions and viewpoints some of these ideas shared by others really impact you, and can change your way of thinking like this passage just did to me. Before reading this passage I believed the internet was a very helpful tool for anybody who could access it, but then I realized just like there are pros there are cons as well. This passage basically as the title explains it, talks about the news in the internet. Since the internet has become such a popular tool visited by many exposed to a lot of information out there, we as readers are connected to a wide range of people and information making it really easy to communicate, and share these information with others. If you think like I did before reading this article you might say to yourself the internet is a very useful tool that can teach you millions of new things while opening doors to many opportunities like jobs, meeting new people, among many other advantages. Even though this advance in technology is very useful it can also become very dangerous. I am not talking about the kind of dangerous we all know about meeting people over the internet etc.. Because we all know those risk since we were little and our parents repeated it over and over again until it got drained in our head. I am taking about taking a step further and looking at the bigger picture, many millions of thousands of journalists have lost their job due to the internet…why? This is because now with sites such as the popular search engine Google which links you to sites like YouTube, twitter, facebook, blogs etc makes it easy for anyone to post whatever they feel like. For example Josh Marshall used to be a print journalist and one day he opened up a blog and shared all the information he used to and more. This is because on the web you have no limitations, no protocol to follow, also if not used this freedom correctly could become dangerous. Due to the internet many people have stopped reading the newspapers; well I mean why would they if they have the news and much more just one click away? They now even have access through their phones so why buy a newspaper when all the information you need to stay updated and even more is in the palm of your hand why hassle? This is many people’s way of thinking but they don’t realize the harm they are causing all these journalists who actually went to school got a degree and now there useless. I want to emphasize that we are not only losing journalists, but also the quality of the information we receive we can’t forget that on the web anyone can post anything no matter if there is no research or evidence to back it up. Therefore, now people who like to share information with others as a hobby with no back up or deep knowledge about a topic are taking the job away from the journalists and many not even doing it half as complete. Yet, there are some of us that are just conformed to the mediocrity, sponsoring ignorance, while making others pay the price. This situation is very well explained in the article when he states “Parasite slowly killing the host.” Everyday millions of journalists are fired or laid off because everyday people rely more on the internet giving no profit to the organizations that deserve it and work for it. I can relate this situation with what is now going on with the downloading of music and movies with programs such as lime wire, Ares, etc. Also by using the internet people think why buy a CD if they can get all the songs for free and put them into an mp3 or iPod. Technology for many has become easy, free, and handy, yet for others it is a total nightmare, an insult and disrespect towards society. Where did all our morals, principles and sense of reality drown into suddenly? I am not saying the internet is the worst thing ever invented in fact it’s a practical invention. To make a long story short we should use the internet while not harming others. So remember if you know how to use the internet there are many benefits available to you, giving you the biggest freedom of speech you could ever have just use it wisely and effectively. Lastly a solution I can think about for the newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post is instead of competing they should bond with these bloggers bloggers, for maybe together they can both benefit helping and sponsoring one another. The conclusion below really got me thinking though and I realized its really up to us…

“Needless to say, traditional news organizations continue to play a critical part in keeping the public informed. But can they adapt to the rapidly changing news environment? And who is going to pay for quality news and information in the future? I hope to address both subjects in a subsequent piece.”

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