Last week, a so-called “Newseum” opened up in Washington, D.C., giving good old print journalism another kick in the direction toward retirement.
A seven-story fortress, located near key locations such as the White House and Capitol Hill, the Newseum serves as a kitschy cultural preservation of what many predict to be the dying business of print journalism.
And for college students ““ at UCLA and across the nation ““ who are pursuing a career in the field of journalism, the Newseum should not serve as a sign of the newspaper’s impending doom but as a compromise between old media and new media outlets.
Of course the museum has made some commendable efforts to honor the heroes of the journalism world ““ including a tribute to reporters who covered the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But the overall tone of the museum is a bleak one. It serves as a constant reminder of what our generation finds to be the archaic nature of newspapers and print journalism. And for prospective professional journalists, the Newseum serves as an unnecessarily bad omen for the industry.
As the Los Angeles Times stated, “With some speculating that the print version of the newspaper is going the way of the Pony Express, perhaps a museum is where it should be featured.”
There is no need to treat the newspaper as the sick man of media ““ as the aging predecessor to the new, fast and streamlined news of the Internet.
It is an obsolete argument to dub print journalism the panda-bear equivalent of media’s own endangered species.
Such conclusions are shortsighted and melodramatic because they completely rule out the practical necessity of newspapers in everyday life.
Sure, recent forecasts have been gloomy.
In January, the Los Angeles Times’ top editor James O’Shea left the paper after a dispute involving $4 million in budget cuts. O’Shea represented the third top editor to leave the paper in a period of less than two years regarding budget disagreements.
And earlier this month The Seattle Times Company cut 200 employee positions at its flagship paper in an effort to implement $15 million budget cuts over the next couple of months.
With big newspaper corporations making layoffs and cutbacks, it is easy to write off the quick collapse of the printed word and to proclaim the immediate necessity for the Newseum ““ to preserve what we have now before it’s too late and long gone.
It is true that the advent of online media and the blogosphere ““ which lists perks such as sheer convenience and easier accessibility ““ serves as harsh competition to the traditional printed newspaper.
But we have to recognize that though the newspaper and print advertisement business is dwindling, it is still a billion-dollar industry.
The Newspaper Association of America revealed last month that total print advertising revenue in 2007 was $42 billion.
While this sum may not equal the revenues of years past, it is still a hefty chunk of income that cannot be simply disregarded. The newspaper industry is not exactly in dire need of a postmortem memorial at the Newseum.
Much to the dismay of modern-day media soothsayers, the newspaper industry is not dying.
The print journalism business may be shrinking, but one must admit that the industry is certainly evolving in an effort to include the great leaps of the digital age.
And for communication studies students and others seeking careers as journalists, it is simply a matter of adaptation, not forfeiting an entire lifestyle.
Indeed, even the Newseum dedicates a chunk of its tourist attractions and souvenir frenzy to the realm of bloggers and citizen journalists ““ an introduction of sorts to the “digital age.”
But, whether the need is trivial or practical, there will always be a need for the newspaper, and it is far too soon to begin mourning the death of the black-and-white printed word.
For every local babysitting advertisement, for every car insurance coupon and for every bored, sudoku-loving UCLA student, there will still be a place for our good old-fashioned newspaper ““ tribute memorials and bad omens not necessary.
Visited the Newseum? E-mail Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.