“The Internet Is No Substitute for the Dying Newspaper Industry” written by, Chris Hedges, talks about newspaper becoming extinct and the internet being a poor substitute. Chris talks about the fact that newspaper provide an outlet where people can be aware of what’s going on within their surroundings as well as providing the truth whether one like it or not. On the other hand the author believes that the internet only provide things that the public wants to hear and lacks the basic itineraries to become an efficient substitute for newspapers.
In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” written by, Nicholas Carr, raises the question of whether the internet, Google, is making us stupid. While he thinks that the internet is indeed changing the way we read and think at the same time he also believe that he may be too quick to expect the worse of a new invention as it could ultimately lead to something great. At the end he tells us that it is alright to be skeptical of his skepticism. Nicholas, however, strongly believes that printed pages such as newspapers allow for deep readings and as such enable for deep thinking which the internet lacks.
Chris Hedges in his article talks about three main things that are responsible for the decline of newspaper. Rise of Corporate State (business), loss of one’s responsibility to the public and as citizens in the part of mostly the business class and poor intelligence of the post literate world. Chris also states that as a result of these problems numerous jobs have been loss, there has also been a decrease in newspaper stocks and advertising revenues. He believes that newspaper offers a means through which citizens can be aware of the society in which they live and the world at large. It allows for citizens to be aware of the works of government and to provide a medium where citizens who normally don’t have a say to have a say and provide their own incite and views on what is going on. Chris also believe that newspaper offer a medium of public trust.
Chris believes that reporters are explorers who go to the source to get the news. He believe that their reports are well researched as they ask questions and seek answers.He also believes that journalist provides the truth even those truth that we choose not to want to hear. The Author thinks of journalist as being unbiased and they challenge basic beliefs. On the other hand he believes that bloggers doesn’t report or do research or go out to the field to find answers. They just basically provide their own opinion without any deep proof to back it up and that bloggers tend to exchange facts with their own opinions. Chris also thinks that corporations doesn’t provide news because they want to ,but for the profit or benefit it provides and as such they just provide what individuals want to hear in a way that’s entertaining and amusing.
While I believe that newspaper allows for citizens to be more engage in what is going on around them, I don’t believe that newspapers can be seen as a medium of public trust. I say this because in today’s world business holds a privilege position in society meaning that they tend to undermine the system just to enable that they are seen in a good light to the public. Many of these media outlets are funded and even own by business and as such many of these newspaper articles tends not to write the truth but are very prejudice so that business can be seen in a good light. This brings out my point that people cannot trust everything that is written in newspaper because they tend to be “sugar coated”.
Another important thing I want to point out is that journalists are humans, humans who have their own thoughts and their own opinions. Journalist are the ones that are behind these newspaper articles and they are just as opinionated as bloggers but newspaper agency make it comes across as factual information.
I may also beg to differ with the part where the author makes mention that journalist provides the truth whether one like it or not. Journalist works under a corporation. Corporations want to have a good reputation as they want to make profit. If what journalist writes doesn’t fit these criteria it will not be published.
What I agree with is that bloggers tend to interchange the facts with their own opinions. Bloggers tend to write things that are false because instead of doing research and seek out the right answers, so as to get their facts right they just publish things on their site because they want to get the attention of viewers and to gain publicity. It is also a money making venture for many. One blogger that comes to mind is Perez Hilton who blogs about celebrities. Many times what Perez Hilton writes about is false and he’s always in contention with celebrities.
I also agree with Chris when he mentions the fact that the Web is built for browsing not reading and that many of the time one has to print out an article to read it. I completely agree with him. I am a living proof of that. For my English class I had to read a 6 page article on the internet and I had to print it out to read it. One can easily get bored and distracted reading such a lengthy article on the net. The Internet provides a lot of distractions as one tend to wonder who is on facebook or which celebrity is getting divorce today.
In this world today the main goal of business is to make profit even at the expense of the citizens. This is why I also agree with the point that the Author made when he talks about the fact that corporations are not in the business of news. Their purpose is to just make people happy because they know they will also be happy.
Nicholas Carr in is article, Is Google Making Us Stupid, provides an answer to his question as well as challenge his own opinion and belief.
I agree with Nicholas that reading books and newspapers enable for deeper thinking and thoughts and as such make us more intellectual. I also agree that the reading of lengthy books allows for one to read very profoundly as to ensure that one pick up the main points and to get a full understanding as to what the book is saying and to get what one is looking for. This allows for our brains to think more complex and deeper.
On the other hand the introduction of the Internet has change the way one thinks and read. The Internet allows for easy access to quick well organized information that’s on the surface. This takes away the ability to think or read as one use to. Instead we skim read to find the information we want and also the internet also provides a wide range of sources. So instead of spending a great deal of time on one source, with the use of the internet, we can skip from one source to the next. This takes away our ability to focus on one piece of article. Our focus becomes scattered. The need for deep reading which can ultimately develop our sense of thoughts and understanding takes a back seat as the internet provides us with easy access to information.
This can have a very negative effect on humans. For example as college students we are sometimes required to write lengthy essays, sometimes 3 to 5 pages or even more. We find our self being stuck at the second page because we are unable to think as our brains are so limited because we get accustom to short simple writings. We no longer read books and newspapers that can build our vocabulary and expand our thoughts.
The use of the internet also takes away the ability for one to read intensely so that one can achieve the core understanding of an article. We are unable to fully interpret and analyze an article .Instead; we look for the quick wins as the author states. What we do is we glance over the surface just to find what we are looking for. So instead of having a great understanding of what we read one is just left with the answers and no kind of background knowledge.
The author also mentions the fact that the internet also provides a lot of distractions. Instead of focusing on what we are reading, we find ourselves on facebook or yahoo messenger. So our brains are all over the place and we are unable to fully focus on one thing. Our concentration then becomes spread out.
Nicholas Carr also made the point that our brains are not fixed but very adaptable. Our brains are quick to adapt to changes. As a result our brains become adapted to that quick operation of the internet and we find it very difficult to read a 10 page article.
Google however believes that the more information one can access and the faster one can pick up the main points, the more productive one becomes has a thinker. I however agree and disagree with this thought. In this day and age where people have to do multiple jobs , take care of kids and at the same time go to school it can be very stressing to read a whole book to gather information which one can access on the internet in a shorter span of time. I agree with Google as it will allow for one to be a more productive thinker because one has to be very sharp and on point so as to ensure that one never misses a main point. I however disagree with Google. I believe that the internet allows for the future generation, which I am a part of, to become very lazy and unproductive and less efficient. We lose the ability to fully read and analyze an article because we are provided with an easier way out.
In ending the author made the remark that he might be too quick to point out the negatives in a new invention as it may evolve into something great. He talked about Socrates who hated the idea of the development of writing as he thought that it would take away the ability of persons to retain things in their head and having a greater understanding of what they read. Although this might have some truth in it, on the brighter side this new development has allowed for information to be spread, enabled for different ideas to be form and expand human knowledge.
But while Nicholas Carr made mention that it’s alright to be skeptical of his skepticism , he emphasize his point that printed pages such as newspapers enables for deep reading and as such one can acquire great knowledge and incite allowing us to create e one’s own idea. He ends his article with what he called Kubrick’s dark prophecy and I quote “as we rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence”. End of quote.
Both “The Internet Is No Substitute for the Dying Newspaper Industry” written by, Chris Hedges and “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” written by, Nicholas Carr are well written article that provide each author point of view on the internet and printed pages. I agreed as well as disagreed on different points they made but I think both author did an excellent job in the way they presented their ideas.