Old media meet new
For a long time now I've been fascinated with broadcast media and the way networks and publications get information to their viewers, readers and listeners. Over the past couple years I've noticed a big push toward the Internet. More people are getting their news online, when they want it, instead of tuning to watch it on TV at a predesignated hour. More people are also dropping their daily newspaper subscriptions for the ease and convenience of the same news at the click of a mouse or with the ease of a keyboard stroke.
I say all that to get to the point. While watching the State of the Union address tonight, I found myself gravitating online for the first time to hear reporters from the Washington Post talk about President Obama's speech. I noticed one thing in particular, for the first time the quality of the broadcast on washingtonpost.com was just as good as NBC or CBS (which I also had on). You could also tweet in opinions and comments and be a contributing member of the discussion. If I had chosen to, I could have also embedded the link to the live stream on a web page or facebook page.
I can't help but wonder where news is going? Are we going to an Internet dominated format where we read our newspapers and surf cnn.com on our iPads? Is TV going to go the way of radio and become a less popular medium? While listening to an NPR's "On The Media" podcast Tuesday a media professor made the statement: When cable news started emerging, the networks scoffed saying any talent that goes to cable is second rate talent on a second rate network. I wonder if that's how mainstream media feels today about the Internet?
Food for thought... please feel free to leave your two cents worth. It's always welcome.
FYI - This picture was snapped during the Republican reaction to the president's speech.