What Do Newspapers and Horseshoes Have In Common?

What Do Newspapers and Horseshoes Have In Common? Leave a comment

When I was growing up one of the most popular forms of media were the photojournalism, i.e., Life and Look. Such magazines were very popular and had been around since the late 19th century. For about forty years prior to 1972, Life was one of the most popular magazines in the United States. Many of its photographs help create lasting memories of the middle 20th century, none more memorial than Alfred Eisenstaedt’s photograph of a nurse in a sailor’s arm’s celebrating VJ Day in New York City.

However, by the early seventies, photojournalism began to become less popular. The TV was becoming a more preferred method of disturbing and displaying images, which was just another example of how technology continues to force evolutionary changes in media.

This Sunday and article in The New York Times Magazine, (Yes, I still read newspapers and magazines, although most of my current information comes from the Internet.) when Virginia Heffernan’s article, “Content and Discontents – Why new forms of media must evolve along with new technologies”, caught my attention. Why would it get my attention? For several reasons — not the least of which was the recent news that the Tribune Company, one of this country’s largest employee-owned media companies has filed bankruptcy. The Chicago Tribune, LA Times – WOW!

“All of the fascinating, particular, sometimes beautiful and already quaint ways of organizing words and images that evolved in the previous centuries — music reviews, fashion spreads, page-one news reports, action movies, late-night talk shows — are designed for a world that no longer exists. They fail to address existing desires, while conscientiously responding to desires people no longer have.” — Virginia Heffernan

Today, it’s all about digital technology, and if the copy and the images aren’t working together to tell succinct stories, forget it! There have been many technical revolutions, but none match the impact of the Internet on our culture, business and social relationships. The media world knows this, but for some the change has been too slow coming.

be_large Digital technology is getting more sophisticated daily. I just learned about uuorld, a 4-dimentional mapping tool that can communicate data geographically and do so over time. Also, have you been to “Google Earth” lately?

We may not be of the “Google generation”, but we had better learn to live with it. Some say the “Google generation” is a myth. While, just ask the people at the Tribune Company.

kenne