As a staff member of my University's Newspaper, I have come to the conclusion that typical, straight news articles should no longer exist. Especially in a young adult environment, straight forward articles with no personality or something to grab you, are not something people reach for and that is heavily affecting people's knowledge about the world around them. Basically what I'm saying is that so many more students COULD be reading our publication but we don't give them a reason to. I love print journalism and I think more people should too.
This article could almost be a letter to newspapers, and remind journalists that they are telling a story, and not listing off facts. All of the most popular publications, such as Vice, talk about hard hitting news but through a fascinating and unique perspective. I think this also affects the quality of journalists we have as a society– as time progresses, journalists are taught simply to meet deadlines and get the news out there; which is important for television news because of it's immediacy. That extra night or so should be taken to their advantage– make print journalism popular again and give people a reason to read.
I like this topic a lot but be careful with the 'letter' format. You can be personal but in still objective and formal, in a 'journalisitic' way if you know what I mean. No first person narrative and blogging style so it can fit with the rest of the articles on the platform :) – Rachel Elfassy Bitoun9 years ago
I'm interested in seeing something like this, but I have two concerns. The first is that this doesn't seem like the sort of article normally published on The Artifice, considering it is more like an op-ed or manifesto than an info-popular article, and neither of those are what the Artifice normally publishes. Secondly, the premise is a little faulty, as "straight news" has rarely, if ever, been successful. Famous news personalities are just that: personalities. Walter Cronkite didn't just read the teleprompter, he made families trust him. Chris Evans isn't popular because of what he writes, but how he writes it. As such, I must unfortunately disagree with this topic. – Christopher Vance9 years ago
I think well written articles don't always need fluff. Part of an article being well written is that it should be able to present facts and allow you to come to your own conclusion. Adding a voice, generally adds a bias or personal view. I think both types of writing have their own purpose and place. – Tatijana9 years ago
Great topic, I might think about picking it up. I think, while it is necessary to hold on to the roots provided by print journalism, to give this a proactive or timeless element, one should also try to see how print and online journalism can combine to tell stories better. While it is important to historicise the issue, the real problem is that news is told in such a bland way that people begin to experience what is known as "compassion fatigue", where they are shown things which need action in repetitive narratives to the point where they can not be bothered to care anymore. Therefore, whoever wants to take this on, I would recommend not spending too long labouring the point that print journalism needs saving, but rather that journalism overall needs a paradigmatic shift to keep enough people interesting in inciting social change. – Matthew Sims9 years ago