The good times can't be over!

I look into the future and see a life of Internet news and 24 hour cable news networks but I don’t see a newspaper.  The reason for this forward thinking comes from campus interaction.

At High Point I see 2,000 plus students going through the day reading textbooks, texting on the cell phones and watching television.  Rarely do I see a student stop and pick up any of the papers.

The Campus Concierge has the Greensboro News and Record, the High Point Enterprise and the USA Today.  The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are located throughout campus.

The Times is often gone before lunchtime but I think that is because more faculty members pick it up than students.  I rarely see a student stop to peruse through any of the papers.  The News and Record must throw out 40 newspapers a day when they drop them off to sit in our newsstands.

Scarier news came when I actually looked to read the writing (pun intended) on the walls.  Going through my Twitter posts I saw one of the people I followed wrote a blog post titled, “Are the good times over for good?”

Douglas E. Jessmer, “Not so Wise Words from Doug,” wrote, “American democracy is impossible without a well-informed citizenry.”  He argues newspapers give the straight news to the people without the commentary and water-downed version we see on television and read on the blogs.  Although I read it on a blog, I have to say he is right and sadly I enter a profession that is laying off more people.

I want to be a journalist because writing and seeing your name in print is addicting.  After my first article was published in the Campus Chronicle I told a professor, “Reading your name in print is the biggest rush I have ever had.”  He smiled and laughed as I promptly changed my major.

I guess it just will keep getting harder for a writing enthusiast like me. I sure hope the good times aren’t over for good!  I’m just getting to the party.