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Newspaper Lady

Published Monday, July 13 2009 - (0) Comments

There are many times while going through normal life I think in terms of "Facebook." Yes, I have, and enjoy, my Facebook account, and am one of the millions to make an effort to check it everyday. Throughout the day, I find myself looking on daily experiences, no matter how mundane, and thinking, "that would make an excellent status." For those who are unaware, a "status" is a personal "headline" for the day. You can login and make up a description of what you are feeling, doing, want to do, will be doing, how you will do it, etc., and every one will see it. It is our way of giving news to all our friends and family what is most important to us at any given moment. And, it almost sounds ridiculous when I type it out, but status creating is almost as fun as actually reading over the statuses of other people. I love skimming over the last 24 hours of status updates with a good glass of sweet tea and my shoes kicked off. Hi, my name is Elaine, and I am a status addict!

But, this is a newspaper blog, and I am supposed to be writing about newspapers and how they relate to education. Well, school is out, students are having a blast, teachers are getting their well-deserved break (at least, I hope they are) and not much is going on….yet. So, why not talk about something that a lot of people not only know about, but use regularly. I think we can pull some similarities between the ever popular Facebook and the newspaper and see that people still want the same thing: information. We certainly are living in the middle of an information age, which makes most people willing to soak up all they can (well, I hope most people. When you stop learning you really start to loose function, I think.) Let's check out the commonalities:

Current Events. Facebook opens up a world of detail on those who choose to participate; newspapers open up new pieces of information every DAY, making it very relevant to the knowledge-thirsty mind.

Both have HEADLINES. Headlines, as I describe to students as they tour the newspaper or to students in a classroom visit, is like a title. It's a title that has words that are going to shock you and make you want to know more.

Photos. A newspaper always has photos of local happenings; from a blistery winter's day to our adored Funfest event, the newspaper will have candid shots form around the community – I love this feature! Facebook will almost always have updated pictures of babies (my current fave!), family events, pets, travels, and more.

Advertisements. While these ads are not placed by the "Facebooker," there are still always advertisements lurking around with each click. Newspapers thrive on ads.

Selective reading. I would venture to say that 99.99 percent do not read the whole paper cover to cover. Why? Not all of it pertains to us……we're not interested in it all. A newspaper is great for that. Facebook is perfect for selective reading; it is easy to navigate and choose what you want to read.

Editorials. Newspapers always have editorials. Some kooky. Some well written with great points. Facebook allows its users to write their own "notes" which is a great way for self-expression.

I certainly could go on, but we can see how these two sources line up. Why is this important? Because I think in a time when many see the newspaper as becoming obsolete, it is important to realize that people don't change in terms of where our general interest lies. Old or young, newspaper or Facebook, each generation wants to know what is going on. Even though numbers have declined, our audience is not lost because we can see how ultimately we will always want the same thing: News.

Will some get their information for free? Yes. T.V., Internet, Radio…it's out there. But a local newspaper holds more than those big conglomerate news sources: a local, community, familial feel. The local newspaper is valuable because is has so much more freedom. Freedom to skim, to "listen to" what you want, and to not be bombarded with worthless opinions or coverage of a 12 day funeral. Freedom to go away from phone and connection lines and still be connected! Freedom to think what you want and not have a commentator field questions, causing you to fight with a T.V. or computer screen (don't deny it, I've done it too!). Freedom to question and e-mail a journalist and most likely get in contact with them!!

I am not trying to sell the newspapers or get anyone on board with reading it. I just think sometimes we need to see the big picture and realize that it is a great asset. I'm always telling my teachers the newspaper is a great asset, and using it just one day a week will open up a child's mind. That will lead to getting a Facebook account one day. That will lead to getting the newspaper….they are connected as they fuel the general peoples' interest…

…News.

(For those interested in knowing more about statistics of how many people read the newspaper, please go to this link (it is a really cool presentation):

http://www.naa.org/docs/advertising/presentations/The_newspaper_industry_today.ppt)

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