The first quarter of 2043 will be when the last newspapers land on the front porches across America. This is the prediction of the author of ‘The Vanishing Newspapers’, one of the books rolled out on the topic, has made. Like many who perpetuate this dismal outlook, he pins the blame on the spectacular rise of the internet, or more specifically, bloggers. There is no argument when it comes to speed and price – blogs wind hands down. But the supporters of newspaper claim that the entries in blogs are not match for the objective and comprehensive news and analysis that newspaper offer. Really? That might just change for although the blogger may not be as a great a rival to the newspaper now as he would be in the future, he still remains as a formidable force to be reckoned with.
Many maintain that newspaper have behind them a dedicated team of professional journalists, and therefore, have more objective news and commentary. In general, that is true. Bloggers or ‘citizen journalists’ as some may prefer to be called, mostly treat reporting as a hobby. The standard of their reports I normally far exceeded by the better quality of reporting in newspaper simply because the former does not have the connections and equipment necessary for good reporting. Those who stick to commenting rather than reporting also depend on newspaper at times and they tend to be less objective than newspapers. Take Mr. Brown for example. He is essentially a blogger, but when he had a column in Today, his views were somewhat biased. In his blog, he usually presented one-sided views on political issues, attacking the government with sarcasm and satire. Anyone who formulates his views based only on Mr Brown’s blog entries would view our political system with a very unfair slant.
Professionalism and the backing of a credible news organization are important if you want to challenge the government or any major company. In America, the newspaper is regarded as the Fourth Estate that holds the President to account. The investigative Washington Post was responsible for bringing the Watergate affair to light and President Nixon to shame. In Singapore, reporter Susan Long, with the support of Straits Times investigate the mystery surrounding TT Durai, the CEO of the National Kidney foundation, and published reports of his suspicious links and transactions. Her report was the catalyst in a chain of events that eventually exposed his corrupt practices of the NKF to the Singaporean public. Bloggers may be able to make accusations – accurate ones even – but many have neither the time nor the necessary links to important people which may be necessary for them to make a valid claim. Furthermore, their niche readership, as compared to most of the respected newspaper, is a restriction that makes it difficult for their comments to rally people together.
However, newspapers have their faults too. Many cannot always be objective and insightful when they are under the control of the government. Chinese newspaper, for instance, are regulated by the Chinese authorities. It is hard for them to report the misdeeds of high-ranking under the watchful eye of the CCP government. In other countries, journalists themselves are not free to do their job. In the Philippines, for example, journalists are sometime targets of attacks – both physical and verbal – from powerful organizations. The internet, on the other hand, provides bloggers with the shelter of anonymity. Bloggers need not provide their names, so as long their accusations and observations are sufficiently backed up, their views can be believed and even acted upon, with almost no risk to their own safety.
Moreover, newspapers nowadays are also beginning to resemble the very cousin they look down upon – the tabloids. In an attempt to woo readers who seem to be more interested in entertainment and sports rather than their own leaders, newspapers are devoting more space on their broadsheets to the lives of Madonna and Beckam, rather than to global and local issues. This is the case with many Indian newspapers even though their readership is not even on the decline. With such lowering of standards and quality, newspapers are losing their niche. When it comes to trivial news, they can beat blogs.
The merits of blogs are gradually coming to light. Technological advancements, such as video and camera phones, are able to report news in a locality faster than newspapers can. When an MRT train broke down, for example, Stomp, the Straits Times online portal was the first to have information on the event for the public. The Straits Times which reaches our doorsteps and newsstands in the wee hours of the morning was late with this news.
It is hard to deny the claims that blogs are less objective in reporting and news analysis, but one can argue that taken as a group, their views provide a vast variety of perspectives, occasionally more than what the average newspaper can provide. This takes time on the part of the readers and most, unfortunately, do not have the time. However, there exist blogs written by journalists and political experts as well, for example, Cherian George, the author of ‘The Air Conditioned Nation’ blogs about Singapore politics. This is also the case in other countries like America where such situations can be seen.
Therefore in conclusion, the predictions may sound rather extreme. The more sentimental ones among us might not be that keen on putting the papers down. Yet, there is no denying the rise of the internet and the dramatic wave of new bloggers as a threat to the humble newspapers. The television and radio have had their time in the limelight and their glory too, seemed to have been eclipsed by blogs. Now, more than ever, blogs are the newspaper’s greatest rival.
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