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They're Ba-ack
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Posted by
boomer
07/03/09 08:05:00 PDT
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Some of the most important stories of today are not about the news, but the messengers. Newspapers are tightening their collective belts, getting smaller in number, volume, advertising revenue and most troublingly, staff. Magazines are redesigning (have you seen Newsweek lately?) and desperately trying to attract a younger, hipper readership. The internet can give us the story quicker and often better by incorporating video and slideshows, but comes to us without the ethical constraints usually imposed by the print media. Anyone can say anything on the net.
I fear for a world where reportage may be limited to 140 characters and a whole generation for whom the written word is reduced to a sort of abbreviated notehand. Will the National Spelling Bee become an anachronism? Will punctuation marks occupy space only in the Smithsonian?
Read the sports pages in your favorite paper. Oh, the passion that goes into the writing. Sure, they get the facts right, but they give you more. They put meat and seasoning into their words. They paint word pictures that a mere photo cannot deliver, and make you imagine yourself watching the action unfold, hear the sounds, and feel the strain as athletes push themselves to the limits of their bodies.
Read the front page. Beneath the Jack Webb, "Just the facts, Ma'am," structure is solid investigation and painstaking accuracy. And if you continue to the ends of those articles (buried somewhere in the middle of the paper), you find nuance and real human beings caught up in events they cannot control. The written word is a hallmark of civilization. It sorts us out and defines us. It forces us to carefully consider what we observe and organize our thoughts for the page, thereby organizing our minds and focusing us on what really matters.
So now we come to my favorite time of year on Tokoni. Cherub Season. The season where I become convinced that the next generation will be even better than those who preceded them. I look forward to your stories, the glimpses into the world as YOU see it, and the satisfaction I will take from knowing that at least for some, the written word still matters.
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07/03/09 13:38pm PDT stjulienlepauvre
boomer, Great story! 'The written word is a hallmark of civilization.' I would like to paint that on my sewing room/study walls!! BTW, I get most news from NYT website, so I'm somewhat less changed by the internet, unless I'm kidding myself. Thank you!! -
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07/03/09 08:09am PDT juliasmom
Hear hear, boomer! I cannot WAIT to read the stories from the newest crop of Cherubs.
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Thanks all. And Stl.J, I think you're safe with the NYT, or the website of any legitimate print medium!