Is The Death Of Public Media On The Horizon?

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the world, has it not? Let’s just recap what has happened, from deaths to sports.

Popular figures that died:

Farrah Fawcett, actress, cancer.

Micheal Jackson, pop star, cardiac arrest, not yet confirmed.

Billy Mays, TV pitchman, heart disease, not yet confirmed.

Steve McNair, NFL star, homicide, not yet confirmed.

Ed McMahon, TV host & announcer, health problems, old age.

NBA free agency opens:

Rasheed Wallace signs with the Boston Celtics.

Jason Kidd re-signs with the Dallas Mavericks.

Hedo Turkoglu verbally signs with Portland then backs out and signs with the Toronto Raptors.

Ron Artest signs with the Los Angels Lakers.

Trevor Ariza signs with the Huston Rockets.

Ben Gordon signs with the Detroit Pistons.

NHL free agency opens:

Marian Gaborik signs with the New York Rangers.

Jay Bouwmeester signs with the Calgary Flames.

Daniel and Henrik Sedin re-sign with the Vancouver Canucks.

Mike Cammalleri signs with the Montreal Canadiens.

Martin Havlat signs with the Minnesota Wild.

Mikhail Grabovski re-signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mike Komisarek signs with the Toronto Maples Leafs.

Rick Nash re-signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Alexei Kovalev signs with the Ottawa Senators.

In World news:


North Korea launches test missiles.

Sarah Palin resigns as governor of Alaska.

14 year old girl only survivor of plane crash (where?).

Swine flu attacks young adults.

Air France flights crashes off the coast of Brazil.

Bernard Madoff is sentenced.


You have to agree that that is a tremendous amount of news, that is, information that is discussed for the purpose of allowing as many people as possible to view and/or hear it.

It is now common place that we have the ability to be informed about each one of these events without reading a paper, listening to the radio, watching the news, or even reading an online newspaper; even the crowned killer of printed news now has its own competition lurking.

I am referring to the social networking phenomenon that is sweeping our globe. It started viral with You Tube, My Space, etc., but these early launches where basically used to promote individual achievements, personal opinions and to keep friends up to date as to what is happening in one’s own life.

But we have seen an emergence of new media, and the innovation of the aforementioned sites, to create an almost instant relay of the information and news that used to be found only in newspapers and television broadcasts that could take from hours to days to reach you. Now, with these new media forms, you are able to hear about events seconds after they happen, directly from individuals that were eye witnesses to them.

For example, if you don't follow tennis you might not have known that the Wimbledon finals were played this past weekend. Armed only with my phone, I was able to follow both the women's and men's final, being kept up to date not only on the points and games won and lost, but also to the reactions of the players, how tired they looked, who had the mental edge, who was in the stands, how the umpire was doing, changes in the weather, even when they brought in new tennis balls. All of this information was provided to me instantly and free of charge by a reporter at the match.

Without needing to read the paper to find out who won the match, I could write my own column about not only who won, but give a detailed account on how the match was won. As a sports fan, though, I would like to actually see some of the action. No Problem. I have been provided a link where I can see the highlights from the match. I can also see video from the match before it is even finished!

This sequence of events was a common theme in regards to keeping track of all of the news headlines that have been seen over the last couple weeks. I have been able to rely on being updated on events happening world wide in every aspect of the news without having to read a paper, watch the TV, even visit a newspapers online edition.

I must comment, though, that in order to gain an in-depth knowledge of what has happened it is still necessary to read an article on the event, maybe even a couple, to get all the details, but I don't, for example, need to know the details of a contract that has just been signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 10 words or less I know that "Beauchemin signs in Toronto for 3 years/ $11.4 million." Fantastic! Welcome to the team. On the other hand, information like "North Korea launches test missiles" might be something you want to read more about, but, of course, that is always easy to find from the traditional sources.

Is the death of public media on the horizon? I would answer that by saying that it will rather continue transforming and innovating the way it relays information. Newspapers are going to have to go online; I really can't see them surviving any other way. Maybe some big players can keep their hardcopy paper going as well, but they are still going to have to rely mainly on online communication. This innovation of immediate communication of news is not the enemy of traditional news (i.e. written articles). I believe that these new forms of instant relaying headlines are bridges to these articles. The headline piques our interest, allows us to be more efficient in where we direct our attention, and allows us to pick and choose which pieces of information we wish to receive and read.

We can now reach our news like index cards at the library. We know what we want to find, we know where to look for it, and we are told where to find it.

It is more efficient, more personal, and more informative. Imagine the world at your fingertips.... Actually, no need to imagine, it is already here.


Have a great week!

Matthew George