Internet killed the Newsprint Star?

Well not exactly but it definitely has made an impact on the way we access our daily news. There are pros and cons of this format of the news, as there usually is with the shifting of traditional forms of media to technological mediums.

An aspect of online news which I think has an advantage over hard copy newspapers is after reading an article on msn or nzherald you can then look at the 'related articles' attached to it unlike newspapers which are limiting. Newspapers subscribe what they think is relevant to you as a mass, it is not individualised. You can choose what is relevant. Accessing news online gives the user more selectivity, you can read what you want and easily ignore what you don't want to read. I guess you can do that with newspapers as we all have skipped certain sections to read the more 'interesting' news but by being able to just search and 'google' what you want to read about you have more control and greater accessibility, such as viewing more than one article by different authors and more photos than what is in the paper. Facebook and other SNS has made news faster to share and more selective as well because we can see what news our friends are interested in (on their walls or the links they post in the newsfeed.) Supposing we are like minded to our friends this can be useful as social currency for discussions and share information. Many online articles now have the option to 'Share' straight onto facebook so that the link to the article will appear in the newsfeed and person's profile. Online news sites are adjusting into the facebook phenomenon by encouraging the sharing and 'liking' of articles, the readers are deciding if the stories are relevant or hold their interest.

We are definitely in a culture where news (like mostly everything else) is on demand. This is what gives internet an advantage as News breaks faster online as it doesn't need to be printed off or have deadlines, the news is always available and updated and we can read whats happening all around the world in a click of the mouse. Alot of newspapers are constructed by the 'higher powers' e.g. corporations and conglomerates, usually with an agenda or bias views, although what we read on the internet can be bias but we get a more diverse range of sources and opinions.

Blogs are also a useful way to hear people's opinions on current news issues or share your own view as they are a personalised and user-generated medium. But with this freedom to express online people need to watch out for inaccurate information or bias views, it becomes a matter of judgement. Blogs and facebook can make breaking news stories more personal because people who share their experiences may have been there at the time and have their own input. Their own experiences creates a sense of exclusivity and intimate look to events, but in some cases looking/hearing from a distance can be better sometimes.

While the internet has its perks of being a convenient and diverse medium to get the news I do not think it can ever replace the nostalgia of opening a newspaper delivered to the doorstep on a Sunday morning. But as Marshall McLuhan said the Medium is the Message and the social context of gathering our news on the Internet signifies the shifting culture that we are the medium.