Is print media on its way out?

I read an editorial the other day that made me proud to be a “citizen journalist”, aka blogger.  It was written by the editor of a hard-copy magazine – Backwoods Home -  but the title was this: “The destruction of the mass print media will help save freedom in America”.  Certainly a provocative title, especially to my friends who are journalists, I am sure.  Dave Duffy starts this way:

“I tend to be an optimist, even though the state of America’s economy and politics does not appear very promising right now. So I want to talk about an optimistic trend in society, one that I believe offers the best hope for the future, especially for the future of individual freedom in America.”

He then goes on to talk about the death of newspapers and magazines in America. The New York Times has reported recently that nearly all major newspapers and magazines in America are losing circulation. A telecommunications professor at NYU complained first on his website (how ironic), then in the Utne Reader that the demise of America’s major publications was “leading to chaos in the way news is delivered to readers, thus depriving people of the ‘journalism that we need’.”

There are plenty of folks – professors and otherwise – that believe that the Internet and Web 2.0 tools are changing the face of reporting in the US.  A case in point – the Twitter explosion over the elections in Iran.  One tweet from Tehran said “the American media may not care, but the American people do”.  That’s significant for a people who has been told the US is the “great Satan”.   Another very recent example is the New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC, NBC and CBS coverage of Van Jones.  If you are read blogs, are on Facebook or Twitter,  I’m pretty sure you knew about Van Jones and the controversy swirling around him before he resigned.  But – the above-mentioned media never reported on it until AFTER the resignation was complete.

Duffy did concede that there are a few print publications that are thriving – Consumer Reports and The Wall Street Journal, to name two. Duffy postulates that the few thriving print publications are doing so because they have content worth reading. “Now that readers have a choice where they get their information, why pay for biased reporting”, he says, “when you can get it free on the Internet”. Both publications also have extensive Internet sites.

He goes on to say that the New York Times and many other college professors and journalists are not only confused and alarmed by the decline of the print publication industry, but are in denial. The invention of the Internet, “just like the invention of the printing press in the 16th century, has reshuffled the deck when it comes to who controls the news and information to which ordinary people have access.”

He explains that he believes that the mass media is “losing its power to control the news” and that a new type of journalism – citizen journalism – is taking hold.

He says “I believe that it will lead to the salvation of freedom in America because more people will become better informed about what is really happening in the country.” He says that those railing against the “unpredictable nature” of the Internet are people who assume that others can’t think for themselves and that they all need to be told what what’s what by REAL journalists.

So what do you think? Is print media on its way out? Will “citizen journalism” replace the MSM (mainstream media)? Which will give you the “real” story? Do you take both sides and arrive at truth in the middle? Looking forward to your responses….