This week, in addition to the never-ending stories about the governor of Illinois, and the Republican assassination of the American car industry, there was the news that America's newspapers are in trouble. Some are filing bankruptcy, many are laying off reporters, some are going under, and at least one - The New York Times - has taken out a huge mortgage on its headquarters in order to keep going. Some on cable are speculating that the internet has killed newspapers. Others are saying that the economy means fewer advertising dollars and that is killing the papers.
I stopped subscribing to papers years ago, not so much because I don't think they are valuable, but because I never had time to read them and because they got black ink residue all over everything when I did. I also got tired of all the supplemental ads that usually went into the trash immediately. I saved the papers themselves for a week, thinking I would get around to reading them, but I usually didn't. Now I read a few newspapers online - the big ones like the Washington Post, New York Times and L.A. Times. Occasionally I read an editorial from the WSJ, especially Peggy Noonan (for her excellent writing even when I disagree with her) and Thomas Frank (for his brilliant thinking, with which I usually agree), but mostly I stay away from its Republican propaganda.
Actually, I have a different theory for why people don't read newspapers anymore. I think cable news killed newspapers. It's so much easier, isn't it, to just click on the television and watch some blowhard on FOX or CNN or MSNBC tell you what to think? No, I don't think they report unbiased news. I think they tell you what and how to think.
FOX tells you to hate Democrats, to suspect Obama of being a Muslim, a terrorist, a radical, or a corrupt associalte of the now disgraced Illinois governor. MSNBC tells you Republicans are crooks or idiots in the evening, when Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow headline, and just the opposite in the morning when Morning Jo(k)e Scarborough bloviates. CNN is more subtle. They pretend not to take sides, but many of their well-coifed female anchors like to make subtle but snide comments about Obama. Actually, what all of these cable networks are trying to do is stir up controversy and trouble, and raise the blood pressure and the attention level of their viewers so they get good ratings. They have to fill 24 hours with something that will grab your attention, so they say controversial things and often incite anger, fear or hatred against someone or something.
Cable has made it unnecessary for anyone to think, to read, to investigate, to see both sides and to make up their own minds based on the evidence. If you watch Keith, you don't have to question his facts. If you watch Hannity, and trust him, you simply believe what he tells you. And these television personalities tell you things in sound bites, quick emotionally laden opinions, and funny presentations. You don't have to strain your brain to pay attention because they are so entertaining you naturally want to stay focused.
Not so with newspapers. With newspapers, you first have to have a fairly good reading ability. You have to comprehend words with more than two syllables. I contend that most Americans don't have that ability anymore. Next, you have to have the attention span and the willingness to spend some time wading through complex investigative articles to determine the facts of some political story. You have to have a tolerance for long, dry, complex writing that doesn't necessarily entertain you, but that may require you to read the same paragraph over and over again when your mind wanders, as it inevitably will when you are accustomed to watching "news" on television. Finally, you have to send in a monthly check and tip that damn paperboy at Christmas, as well as haul all that paper out to the recylcing bin each week. In an era of convenience and instant everything, who has time for all that?
Television has done a lot of damage to our ability to think and concentrate, to our intelligence, and to our physical well being as we spend so much time sitting instead of moving. And now the 24 hour cable news shows have just about killed newspapers, in addition to disseminating false and biased information. They have not just made us stupid. They have divided us and made us hateful people who judge each other on the basis of propaganda that get good ratings and high salaries for the propagandists.
Frankly, I would much rather see the cable shows die than the newspapers - even if it means I have to endure a little black newsprint rubbing off on my hands and furniture.
