Growing up, I remember my first job. I got a position in my neighborhood as a newspaper delivery girl. Every morning I would wake up at the crack of dawn, jump on my bike, and deliver the newspaper to those in my neighborhood. Given my young age and lack of responsibility, I didn’t keep the job for long.. but that’s beside the point. I felt a sense of empowerment; I gave something to the people of my community that no one else did. I gave them the news.
I just tried to think of the last time that I saw someone delivering newspapers. Given that I live in a college apartment complex, my experience is a little biased, but I haven’t seen a newspaper being delivered in years. Even in high school when I lived in a small, suburban neighborhood, that wasn’t something that was the norm. If people wanted the newspaper, they had to go get it from the Publix down the street or the gas station a few miles away. Are classified ads even a thing anymore? What about Sunday Comics?
The Internet is the way to disseminate information in today’s society. Everyday I get my current news from sites like Reddit. Sure, it’s mixed in with memes, discussions, and rants, but a lot of the news that you can find through there is legitimate, and some of it is things you wouldn’t have normally read in a newspaper due to obscurity.
Not only are you able to read and learn from objective sources, but there are discussions on even the most objective of articles. You get to hear the subjective opinions of those that read the same news sources as you, which makes me feel as though the age of the Internet is much more substantial as a news source, not only in depth, but also in the speed in which you are able to learn about things.
In the end, who knows what the news is going to turn into, but the changes that have occurred are definitely something that I can stand behind.