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Volume 71, Issue 155,
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Opinion Readers dissatisfied with journalism Michael Goetz
Some of you may have heard this already, but apparently, journalists today aren°Øt very good at what they do. From listening to Dad rant about unverified sources to watching journalistic icons like Tom Brokaw fall from grace, media outlets seem to be flailing for something to hold onto. The number of people who claim to hold the one true answer to journalism°Øs woes is staggering. Maybe it°Øs corporate greed. Don°Øt discount a writing culture that doesn°Øt understand new technology. The real issue is that writers are trying to sound like someone else instead of using their own voices. Editors don°Øt edit anymore. Regardless of the opinion of the reader, one fact remains true °™ many people are unsatisfied with modern journalism. Reader subscriptions are falling in the printed media sector, and many wonder where they are going. It can°Øt possibly be because we have nothing interesting to say. We write the news; it°Øs always interesting. The largest issue I see today with journalism is a combination of vanity and ignorance. Take video game articles, for example. How many game columnists do you see in the New York Times or the Houston Chronicle? Yet there are more than 6 million people playing World of Warcraft right now. That°Øs a huge untapped demographic. Gaming journalists are usually scoffed at in the media as Peter Pans who aren°Øt capable of writing anything of real substance. I wonder about the difference between writing about social behavior in an online world and exploring the subconscious in the real world. One could argue that community games allow people to act out their repressed scenarios without fear of repercussion. That sounds like a wonderful topic to write about to me. Too bad the only place you will ever really see that is on some underground technology Web site. Most of the articles written about gaming have entirely too many megahertz and pixel numbers for mainstream America to get excited about. We need more articles about the social implications of technology and less about how much fast your new computer will be for the next three months until it becomes outdated. The only way we will begin to see this type of article is if large media outlets step off their high horses and take a few risks with non-traditional topics. The deluge of information is overwhelming to most people. I consider myself fairly competent when it comes to technology, yet I get tired just thinking about what I need to look for when upgrading my television. Only when writers begin to really understand technology and how it impacts every aspect of social life will we see better articles in the press. Instead of writing for the lowest common denominator, there will be more accurate explanations that even Uncle Ted could understand. Readers need something to read. The less spectacular the subject, the less interested your readers will be. We don°Øt need body counts to sell news; we need insight. Stories that inform the public and open their minds will sell more copies than a rehashed Associated Press news spot. After all, that°Øs what journalism is here for. Goetz, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar,
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