Does journalism deserve to die?

OK; I’ll admit…the article title was shamelessly misleading just to get you to click.

More accurately, “Do certain journalism platforms deserve to die?”

The death of print media, specifically newspapers, has been predicted for years. And while naysayers will point to the longevity of books as evidence that newspapers will never completely fade away, I remain reluctantly pessimistic. After all, even books compete with Kindle nowadays.

I recently watched a round table discussion that included Ira Glass, host of Chicago Public Radio/Public Radio International’s “This American Life” (and my personal journalism/public radio idol) and he literally said, quite frankly, that newspapers and network TV news deserve to die.

At first I was instinctively opposed to the idea. But the more I think about it, the more I agree…unless print journalism and major network news changes its behavior.

Both are catering to a dwindling customer base. People my age typically don’t watch the evening news nor read any major newspaper. But they’ll surf blogs, check their Twitter and search YouTube.

I think there will still be an audience for newspapers. After all, I love waking up in the morning to hot coffee and a crisp, unwrinkled stack of newsprint. But it’ll never survive if it doesn’t adapt to changing user demand.

The same goes for TV news. Mr. Glass said something that really resonated with me in the discussion, and that is that people want real journalism, but where commentary and opinion “kick journalism’s ass every time, is that commentary speaks to us in a normal tone of voice.”

He goes on to describe how corny the TV news voices that on-air talent use and how, when you think about it, it just doesn’t make much sense. I don’t talk to my friends or family in a “news voice,” so why would I want to listen to someone talk to me in one?

Glass said this, and I agree: that the reason shows like The Daily Show, Rachel Maddow, and the Colbert Report are so popular are that, though they inject commentary and entertainment, they talk to us about issues like we talk with our friends…in a normal, conversational tone.

And there’s a huge hole in journalism right now for a TV show or radio show or something that gives us real news journalism, just cold hard facts without opinion, in a normal tone of voice. Someone who can do that, would do very well, I think.

What do you all think? Do print/TV news deserve to die? Or should they change? Who will instigate the change? Will it be the people in the industry right now? Or young people our age who want to step up to the plate and offer fresh new ideas from a different perspective?

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Here’s the round table.  Glass talks about the “death” of print journalism/TV news starting right at 38:00, but the whole thing is worth watching.