As a citizen, how engaged are you? Think about it. After all, it is our right as responsible people to be educated about our society. Sadly, there is such a decline in civic engagement in our culture. The other day I participated in a discussion about how engaged in society we really are. The majority of responces went something like this.. " Hmm... well I guess I'm not very engaged at all..."
I believe that this is a result of the diminishing newspapers in society. Hardly ever do people take time to sit down and read the newspaper anymore. The most popular media among young people (I'm talking 18-mid 20s) is TV, internet, and magazines- and this is where people are getting their information. I admit it, i'm guilty too! I fall under the statistic as an UNDERinformed citizen, however I do do my part in informing myself of community happenings.
Technological inventions such as the internet make it much easier to "reach" information, but do people actively use it in that way? Although I praise the internet for such ease and accessability, it fails to stress the importance to be informed about real issues. When I say real issues, I'm not talking about Britney Spears shaving her head or Lindsay Lohan driving into a telephone pole again. Im talking about the news that has an impact on the greater society- wars, economy, community issues. Things that REALLY matter. As citizens we need to be informed so we can formulate our values, knowledge, and skills to make a valuable contribution to society.
There are definitely some very interesting points that you bring to notice with this article. The idea that the newspaper is the only source of information is the newspaper seems to be a little far stretched. I do agree with you that newspapers are a major source of information both local and world wide. However, there are plenty of media outlets that one is able to gather information from such as the internet, television, the radio and several others.
ReplyDeleteTelevision, radio, and magazines can be very valuable sources of information, such as TIME magazine which is very reputable. I don't think that the type of media one choose to utilize necessarily defines how involved or engaged they are citizen. I think that involvement is determined by the type of person they are and how interested they may be in the information.
If a citizen feels inclined to be informed about issues in society, they will utilize whichever media source that is appropriate whether it is written on paper or can be read on a screen. I think that difference in choices of media sources simply is the different generations that are utilizing them. Young people are more likely to use technology because of what they grew up with.
Also, with the argument that one is only able to find information on Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan online, that simply depends on what a person is looking for. If a person were to utilize nytimes.com they would be able to find articles on just about every topic such war, economy and community issues.
The number of magazines that focus on political matters compared to the number of tabloids is probably equivalent. Same goes for celebrity gossip shows compared to number of news channels. It just depends what a person decides to focus their attention on.
-Nicole B.
There were some good points made about how people are becoming less engaged in our civic culture. It is true that many watch entertainment TV or Reality shows over the news. Many use the internet of entertainment, but it is a good reasource to find the news if used in that way.
ReplyDeleteThe newspaper is by no means the only way to get your news. As we know there is the 6am, 5pm, 6pm, and 10pm news. You can read your news online or search the World Wide Web for any information you could want.
I agree that it all depends on what we focus are attention on. We need to make an effort to be actively engaged in the civic culture. The more we know the better citizen we can be.
Jessica Davis
I enjoy and share some of your views on this subject. A large portion of people, especially those in the age group you cited, are under informed and disengaged as citizens. Also, I agree that the current medias being used to bring information to the public are focused more on entertainment than the information that should be provided to the citizenry. Though, I'm not sure the newspaper disappearing has much to do with any of this.
ReplyDeleteThe decision to participate as a citizen is left up to the individual. The daily newspaper will not make that decision for someone. The internet, as the main killer of the daily newspaper, can provide more information on a topic if a citizen decides to be engaged.
I believe the arguments you make are two separate points that share no relation. I agree with you that much of the public are made up of disengaged citizens. I do not believe, however, that the disappearance of the newspaper has anything to do with it.
Steve B.