old news

i can believe the news today. newspapers as we know them, as pulp-grade paper with smudgy ink, bulky and cumbersome, are going the way of the dodo.

the world is infinitely smaller than it was in the heyday of newspapers. people are getting their news from the most democratic of all sources, the internet. on the internet a click gets you a story. rolling your mouse over the story lets you see the source if you want to know that before clicking. you can read the story on your screen in what amounts to a positive environmental trade-off. it makes all the sense in the world.

it is important not to confuse journalism, or even the press, (the fourth estate,) with newspapers. the watchdog role journalism plays in our society is of the utmost importance. i might even go so far as to say the fifth estate, the alternative media, is every bit as important as the mainstream media, which has proven too easy to sully.

as the slow death of newspapers continues we should seriously consider a state run newspaper. such an entity would need to have an unprecedented autonomy for its role and a charter that defines and guides its action, which would at its heart be nothing more than textbook journalism. beyond this one sponsored journalistic endeavor, undertaken by a wise old society who understands the importance of the role of watchdog, nothing else would be necessary. from there capitalism can take over. let better news outlets do their best to compete and let americans know that their one, tax funded and governed by the people news organization is accountable to them and exists simply to play the role of watchdog.

the state sponsored news organization can neglect sports and entertainment "news." those things are not newsworthy. as it was, many published newspapers were not being read anyway.

i am not bothered that newspapers are going away. what does bother me is corruption. i am hopeful the function of watchdog, so necessary in society, survives all this.