Saving the Detroit Newspapers

High tech, gas prices and economic woes have all combined to force a drastic change in how the Detroit Free Press delivers its news.

Political Grandstanding

As our world gets smaller through the use of technology, we see less substance and more grandstanding in news coverage and then most of that is being presented to us in bites.

Yesterday, we saw dozens of people killed and injured in the VA Tech shootings. And all that is bad and good about instantaneous news was immediately recognizable. Because of our accelerated form of news gathering, we often see politicians and lobby groups spouting the most inflammatory comments they can in an effort to make the news. The anti-gun lobby starting pointing its fingers yesterday, even though we still didn't have details-- such as who the shooter was or a confirmed count of those injured or killed.

And the strangest thing of all were some of the comments left on student webpages or blogs where VA Tech students logged on to note that they were okay or that a girlfriend had been injured or that the whereabouts of a well-liked teacher was unknown. The comments I'm referring to weren't the ones left by well-wishers but by reporters trolling about the internet looking for students to interview about their experiences.

Welcome to the world of the soundbite.