The Possibilities are Endless

Two months ago, knowing that I was going to graduate this May, I decided to buy myself a new computer. I figured I would need something new that would work for a few years, since I'd be out on my own without school computers to use. I ended up buying a combo package with a laptop and a desktop for $1,300. The point of this anecdote: most people in this country don't have thirteen hundred bones to drop on a couple computers.

The last time I checked, broadcast television was free. And here's some late-breaking news for you...

People like stuff that's free!!!

I spent $1,300 on two computers. I didn't spend $1,300 on a printing press.

According to Media Magazine, the television medium isn't dying at all. It's just being spread thin over various types of television watching. But there is a definite shift from the traditional sit down at 10 p.m. and watch the news each and every night mindset.

So what does this all mean? It means that we, as journalism students, need to think in innovative ways to lure an audience. And at the same time, we need to present newsworthy content in a respectable manner that's not over the top. Or at least not too far over the top. Whether that be for print, radio, television, or the web it doesn't really seem to matter.

It seems like more and more newspapers are trying to follow the trend of generating online revenue that our very own Lawrence Journal-World has polished over the last few years. Yet these are the types of quotes the people in charge of media conglomerates are throwing at us:

"There is no bigger problem today than the fact that we're not getting paid for online news. If we can't get paid for it, we aren't going to be able to continue to afford to do it." - William Dean Singleton, vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group Inc.

I wasn't aware of the business principle stating you had to make money in order to continue to offer your product or service. Here's an idea for you Mr. Three-Named CEO...if you clean up your crappy online news web site, you will attract an audience and, in turn, generate revenue.

Everything points toward convergence of all types of media. For now, all convergence means is that all the old media forms are coming together to form an online medium. It doesn't mean the old media are dying. But it also doesn't mean they won't die eventually.