To “Google” something is a term that many of us are familiar with. When breaking news is released we most likely use it to get the most information. I’m sure when the creators of Google first thought up their search engine they were aware of how revolutionary their website was going to become, but at what cost? Newspapers and journalism revenue was one of the major entities that took a major hit from this wide distribution of knowledge. Now, consumers didn’t have to open a newspaper to get information. They didn’t even have to bother with stories they didn’t care about. Today, when news breaks it goes viral on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media website. Readers can then put in some keywords and find all the information they could possibly need. So what about the creator of this content? Lets say a New York Times journalist breaks open a case and some other more popular search engine optimized site distributes the news to a wider audience, where is the justice for the original creator? Hardworking journalism is taking a hit and by one of our most beloved tools; a revolutionary tool. Information wants to be free, but can’t afford it anymore.
There has to be a change in the formula. Newspapers use to report record gains and now are hanging on by a thread because the search engine that is suppose to be making information a free for all is the only one profiting off content produced by others. This was bound to happen from the day the search engine was thought up. But now that side effects have kicked in hard, we are in desperate need for another revolutionary idea. The loss of hard, trustworthy, and big time journalism will effect every single person. One of the most important inventions, the written word, is being devalued at an alarming rate.