They say print is dead. They say we are a generation of illiterates by choice who cannot find it in ourselves to pick up a book – well unless it’s “Twilight” – or read something more than the news ticker on CNN. In a world with the Internet words on a peice of paper are useless.
Tell that to Carla Kostoff a Washington D.C. newsstand owner who sold thousands of copies of the biggest newspapers. Tell that to the magazines whose sales rocketed in the double digits when they featured President Obama.
MSNBC said that Time magazine one of the recent publications to cry wolf about the death of newspapers in its Feb. 16 issue took advantage of the Obama bump by including Obama as the cover story in a quarter of the year’s issues.
So in response to the speculation to the ailing pulse of print let me give them the Ashlyee rule on this matter: Boring print is dead. With the simple formula of capitvating the reader and readers making efforts of their own the print industry can be revived.
Gone are the days when hard news is the path of righteousness. Publishers need to answer the pointed question that may define our generation: Why should we care?
The media needs to actually deliver what we care about. For a while it was and just may continue to be President Obama – that is why his face was plastered on everything from American Dog to Aerodynamic Daily – I just made the last one up but I imagine it would make a mean article on hope fueling the nation to lift off.
A poll of any college campus would provide a myriad of story ideas. On this campus the struggles in Burma have captivated the attention of the very demographic that publishers try to reach.
Print needs to engage it needs to spend more time telling us why we should care and showing us how it affects us and vice versa.
They have to give us some credit too – we’re not illiterate. A consensus is that our attention spans fly quicker than Michael Phelps can swim a lap in a kiddie pool (high or not).
Though the theory cannot be completely debunked – especially as I do get distracted by the flashing lights of more interesting topics – the strategies that certain publications are taking are insulting to our intelligence. I’m noticing a progressive kind of deterioration whether it is a product review or a profile that is presented in lists – Q and A galore.
What’s next? Primer articles? This is Kate. Kate likes to act. Acting is fun. Kate is English. England is in Great Britain.
The print media has the responsibility to cut redundancy and publish different approaches and perspectives.
While the press have a responsibility to spice up its life for our sake we have an end of the bargain to hold as well.
No matter how you cut it it’s a shame that we aren’t giving them the audience they need to survive. Speaking of different perspectives the Instituto de Prensa (Press Institute) reports that our reading habits don’t change once we pass our mid 20s. Attention: We are reaching critical mass. It’s all about taking baby steps – subscribing to e-mail updates about a topic that interests you reading the front page and actually using the jump line (when it says “See A8” go to A8).
It’s important that we are conscious about our media intake. PerezHilton is great and all but how about we mix it up with a little Anderson Cooper – he’s easy on the eyes – and a little Maureen Dowd for good measure.
As long as we partake in print media it’s okay to be picky. Let them earn our subscription dollars. Print has a steady heartbeat when done right. It can take heart in that if it listens to the Ashlyee rule it will get the readers it still desperately needs.