In Leonard Pitts column this morning he talks about the impending death of newspapers and mentioned that 63 percent of all Americans taking a survey by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism would not even miss their daily newspaper.
I worked for a company years back that was employed with workers, but not thinkers to any stretch of the imagination. They did not read. They never took the time to go to a library or even buy a book at their local grocery store. I asked someone in the corporate headquarters one morning if they had read such and such in the morning paper and her reply, “No, Lynn, we will leave it up to you to let us know what’s going on.” These people were great at sarcasm, their one and only talent besides “stupid.”
I talked to few people out where I live who do not get the newspaper…say they can’t afford it. That is just about the poorest excuse for ignorance I have heard. I would rather hear them say, no, I just want to stay ignorant and turn on the TV. They can give up that one Twinkie per day that is causing their disconnect.
The only way that we will ever be able to stay ahead of the bad guys from gaining total traction and control are our reporters who write for our local newspapers. You honestly do not think it is the Internet and the blogs, do you? National news web sites will keep us advised instantly. This is a great service. Blogs, on the other hand, are nothing more than gossip, one-sided opinion for the most part and bull from some. Here in Lake Worth, there is still one guy who mouths off and belittles and lies about those he professes to hate. These are the people who will not be missed…the bully badgers of Lake Worth.
The Bully Badger of Lake WorthOur newspapers are what keep this whole mess of a society honest. Newspapers are the only thing left that has a semblance of truth and they will expose corruption with the facts, (The Palm Beach Post on PB County corruption as an example). Would you rather have the truth or get your reporting from some blogger who has never risen from the sand box, who probably never reads the newspaper, and in essence has NO view but can only attack someone else, who can't spell in spite of spell check, and whose only reason for being alive is to “take someone down” just because it’s sport, arm-chairing everything with venomous one-liners, never with any original thought of his own.
Let’s hope and pray that newspapers last forever!
