Newsworthy

Like lots of others today, I'm troubled by the trouble city newspapers are in. Here in Chicago, the Tribune has just announced deep staff cuts - including way too many among reporters - and yet another turnover at the top. The Sun-Times has been going through similar turmoil for some time. I get two papers delivered and read another half a dozen or more online every day. On her way out, Trib editor Anne Marie Lipinski said, "Your newspaper is both a joy and a powerful engine for good."

I don't think we realize what we stand to lose.

Anyway, here's a link to an interesting editorial from today's Sun-Times suggesting that Obama's position on religion in the public square, far from being a "fruitcake" idea as James Dobson has argued, is our "only way forward in a religiously pluralistic society." 

While you're there, read the ads. 

Comments

[PS]

Losing the newspapers would be bad, yet the truth is that I can get almost all the news, exactly the same wording, on the 'net. And that is what I do. When I got the newspaper, I spent too much time reading stuff I didn't need to read. Now I have google and yahoo set up to give me the topics I'm interested in, plus some other services having to do with special interests, and I can read the most important things there. Plus, there is public radio. Also, I get a smidge of news on TV.

I AM GETTING THE NEWS. However, two of my bright children aren't because they watch TV stations that have their special interests but no news. They are so out of it.

KELLY'S RESPONSE: Exactly. Almost all the news sounds the same, word for word. Why? Because there are about 4 real reporters left in the whole country. So we get fed whatever it is the White House press office is dishing out instead of the real scoop on what's happening and why. Same thing happens on a local level. Without information - and brave souls who are willing to track it down - we might as well be living in North Korea or China.

[Roger Gustafson]

Here's another thought: If we set up Yahoo and Google to route us information about only the topics that interest us, we just create increasingly segmented cultures (tribes, call them what you will) that have increasingly less to do with each other. Walls stink.

[Brad <><]

In response to Mr. Gustafson's comment, here is an interesting article I was pointed to this past week that poses the question, "Is Google making us stupid?" (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google)