Nothing against journalists...

It is a good idea I decided against becoming a journalist I guess. In another ‘I hate everything’ article by Chris Hedges, he sure shone a light on how something else is failing due to the new ways of the world. This time, the internet and large corporations are going straight for the throats of the News rooms. I will give Hedges some credit; he was not as provocative in his argument. He did supply a few links, and the accusations did not make me want to throw my computer across the room, so overall, it was an easier read. In his article, he was trying to display how the use of internet news sites were taking away from the popularity of the common newspaper, and how large corporations pretty much controlled what was on television broadcasts of the news. In my last blog over Hedges article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” I will admit that I was probably not as skeptical about his opinion as I should have been. I just simply read the article, and let my views be based on what he thought. But the more I consider what he said, the more offended I grew. So when reading this article, I found that I tried more to find ideas that challenged his. Sure enough, he said something that offended me again. The way he says that we “live under an illusion,” makes me believe that Hedges’ feels superior to everyone else on this planet. Blaming the people for what is happening to our society is not going to accomplish anything. Yes, journalist may be losing their jobs, and newspapers and broadcasts may be failing or changing completely; but Hedges just needs to wake up and realize that things are changing and sometimes it may be for the better.

On the contrary, Clive Thompson feels very different from Hedges. The impact that the internet has had on our society, especially the younger generations, is quite positive. Not only are we writing more than ever, we are focusing on things such as audience and tone. The internet has increased communication and the amount of writing people do over the past decades, and I personally I don’t see how anyone can make anything negative of that.

I am trying to be a critical thinker here and see from both perspectives… Okay, I do admit that I favor Thompson, because I simply don’t care too much for the way Hedges attacks everything in the common person’s way of life. We use the internet, we chat, we blog, we don’t always have 45 minutes to sit down and just read the newspaper… well, I am sorry, Mr. Hedges. Maybe those poor little journalists can all sit down and blog about their troubles of how the big bad internet caused them to lose their job. I’m sure more people will read that than something in their local newspaper, they may even be fortunate enough to receive a link for Monster and find a new job.