Blood on the floor? or Revolution in writing??

In his article, “Bad Days for Newsrooms—and Democracy”, Hedge states his opinion in the first paragraph: “The decline of newspapers is about the rise of the corporate state, the loss of civic and public responsibility, … the intellectual poverty of our post-literate world, a world where information is conveyed primarily through rapidly moving images rather than print”. The more I read by Chris Hedges, the less I like him. However, he does have some valid points. It is undeniable that the news we hear and read today is quite different than that of our parents’ generation or even of my childhood. News is now designed to amuse rather than inform. From sizzling gossip columns to snappy news anchors, vessels that used to relay information have become yet another form of entertainment. Out of curiosity I visited Yahoo and MSN to see what news headlines popped up first. On Yahoo, the headline was “NFL player fined for message on shoes”. On MSN, “The New Hair Club for Men” which discussed which stars have bad hair implants, was front-and-center. This is news? What about the War in Iraq or the recession? To me, that seems a bit more prevalent then celebs’ hair and stunts by NFL players. I do have to agree that the rise of corporate states have a major part to play in the decline of newsrooms. Time Warner, Disney, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., General Electric and Viacom control virtually everything we read or hear. In my opinion, this is more to blame than the literacy rates in America. Thompson’s view of the effect of the internet on literacy is opposite of Hedge’s. Thompson argues that the internet is changing the way we write, but not making people illiterate. According to a study, over 30% of the writing that occurs is outside of school. This has forced writers of my generation to focus on their audience rather than pleasing a professor. On the other hand, I think it is important to remember that this study was conducted with students, which, when you consider Hedge’s arguments about people who are semi-literate or uneducated, is not really applicable when comparing their opinions.