Cossid-essay.docx

Ruschelle L. Cossid BSED - E - III

Newspapers vs. News Televisions In this modern world, media such as newspaper and television are considered to be an irrefutable part in our life. We can’t live without reading and knowing what is happening in our world. We engage in some sort of news could be local, national or international whichever one interests us. Newspapers had been with us since the early times providing news about what is happening before televisions are invented. It has satisfied our curiosity about the events that happen half way across the world and also about the latest news in our neighborhood. With the advent of television, the question is whether newspapers have outgrown their usefulness or not. In this essay, I will give the advantages and disadvantages as well as the problems acted by newspaper and news television in providing information to the people. Each medium has their own way to offer information and tell different stories. There is a gigantic difference between newspaper and news television. Newspapers come up in a paper format so that means we should know how to read while news televisions require audio-visual. One advantage of newspaper is that people can use it wherever and whenever they want. They can read it in the train, bus, boat and ship while traveling from one place to another. Newspapers give us deeper in sight into the event than television does. In newspapers, you can choose to spend a few minutes or a few hours reading repeatedly a piece of news unlike from the two-three minutes aired news on news television. However, some newspapers have experienced declines in circulation and readership. The primary driver of these declines is the fact that consumers get their primary news and information from television and the Internet. Newspaper stories are also printed out on grayish colored paper with only limited photos making it boring to some people. Newspapers also cannot issue out new news until the following morning unlike from televisions where live news is automatically put on air. Newspapers can also be time

consuming activity because people often spend minutes to read the entire article making them to slow their task down. As a result, some people usually find it more convenient to turn on the television and just listen about what is going on in the news rather than trying to read it on paper. On the other hand, news televisions are what most people preferred nowadays. According to the survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, among 3,003 adults, the proportion of Americans who read news on a printed page – in newspapers and magazines – continues to decline, even as online readership has offset some of these losses. News televisions are preferable in providing news because it provides audio and visual support. It displays images and videos of what really happened in the event that adds to the sensation quotient of the people. News televisions are convenient to those people who cannot read because they will just going to watch and listen. News channels transmit news continuously, most of which is live (Sourav, 2011). News televisions can provide live updates of the current international conferences and competitions as well as the on-going traffic in our place. It presents live news about the current calamities so that people are always informed and alerted of the possible dangers. News televisions show actual photos and footage of the story, thus we get a better visual image of what is going on. However, by its nature, television cannot cover news without video or sound incorporated into the story to (Donathan, 2009). This means that news televisions really need to cover a story to prove their news. News televisions rely on visual images and very short sound bites and stories are rarely very long or in depth. In case of reporting wars, the reporter’s life may be at stake. News televisions are also more prone to live television mistakes. For example, Brian Williams has been suspended without pay for six months from his anchor chair at NBC Nightly News after it was revealed that he lied about an incident that he said happened in Iraq.

This common mistake will mislead people and worst it may spark outrage from the people involved and stated in the news. In providing news whether newspapers or news televisions, there are also some challenges and problems met and acted by each medium. The problem lies not just in the manner of presenting the news but also in the way in which information is perceived. It is important that news be reported truthfully, yet journalists should ensure the sentiments of reader or viewers are not hurt. However, media has nowadays removed itself from just reporting the truth in a palatable manner and has resorted to what is known as 'tabloid journalism'. Newspapers seem to begin with news that exploits people rather than provide them with valuable information. Sometimes even gruesome murders and reports involving security of women are reported in an aggrandized manner. I am not saying that tabloid journalism is not good but some news media have been using it to the extent that people are getting deprived of the truth. Confusion will be created in the public’s mindsets. People do not know which news to trust as they may either be false or true. People might become interested in the wrong news. Meanwhile, some journalist also resorted in using lurid features and sensationalized news in newspaper publishing to attract readers and increase circulation. Indeed the metrics for success or failure of the newspaper is its circulation but utilizing yellow journalism presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Journalists may use techniques such as exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism. In news televisions, they can grab a couple of people who know nothing of the issue to continue amusing the viewers. One factor that challenges newspapers and news televisions is that people are gradually relying on using Internet. More than fifty million Americans utilize the Internet daily to keep informed about local, national, and international events (Horrigan, 2006), a trend that will likely continue.

This trend might hinder the increase of circulation of newspapers as well as the increase of Television Rating Point (TPR) of news televisions. In conclusion, newspapers and news televisions are both great help in making us knowledgeable with what is happening in our world. It is clear that both medium greatly influence people’s day-to-day lives. Whether newspapers or news televisions, both of them provide us great help in obtaining the latest information of events happening in our world. They are the dominant media outlets for the news among any mass media that focus, interpret, and broadcast news received from various sources of information. The argument about the preferability of newspaper and news televisions will possibly change from time to time because people will read newspapers or watch news television depending on their interest and convenience. We cannot say that everyone favors the other medium because what is important to us is the information that we can get. Aside from the Internet, these two mediums, the newspaper and news television, are our best main options in getting news. In dealing yellow journalism, the best way to avoid the effect of it are check facts with several sources, and don't get all of your news from one place. Consider where the news is coming from, and any biases the source may have. By getting news from more than one venue, it is possible to see yellow journalism for what it is, and keep an open, and unbiased, mind when searching for the facts. We must remember that media is the only way by which we receive news of the world. Hence, accuracy in reporting news is essential, if we are to gain a better understanding of the world we live.