*page one...

I've never wanted to be a journalist. The very idea of reporting something scares me because there is so much that I could get wrong. What if i miss quote someone, don't get the facts right, or miss spell a proper noun?!! I start sweating just thinking about it. And although my stomach turns at the thought of being a journalist, I have a deep respect for those who can report on issues day in and day out.

On Thursday I watched Page One, a documentary about a year inside The New York Times. I love documentaries and I loved this one too. I loved watching the story unfold but it made my heart sad to see print media (like The New York Times) take such a hit because of the digital age.

Paper sales are down because of people getting their news online. Ad sales are down because no one is reading papers. And journalists are losing jobs.

Marshall McLuhan wrote "The medium is the message". For some reason that was run through my head while I watched. Part of telling the news in print media reminds me the significance of the story; that it isn't just about a digital copy floating around somewhere, but that it is a tangible thing, a thing worth spending time and money on putting out there. There is so much in this world that is just send out into the world without much thought or consequence (Facebook, Twitter, and blogs alike). News deserves more, it deserves to be respected, honored, and upheld. It deserves more that a blogger reporting their thoughts on an issue while sitting in their pj's.

But how do you keep the industry going in a world that demands more for less. I'm not saying it is bad to have news online (I get my news online because it is easier to access). But what I do want is my news to maintain it's integrity.

Bill Keller, former Executive Editor of The NY Times, ended the movie by saying that he can't boil the solution down to aha moment. That we do need people to report, that the public needs journalists.
 
And I would agree, but how does that happen? Do we start subsidizing the paper industry? Do we make all outlets publicly owned and run like the CBC? What do we do to keep journalism alive and valued?!

 I'm not a 100% sure of how to fix the problem... but in the meantime I would suggest watching this movie, for you to start thinking how important your news is to you, where your news comes from, and just maybe we can work on it together.

www.takepart.com/pageone