By Dr. KAYLENE ARMSTRONG
Adviser
Next week marks the 84th year of celebrating National Newspaper Week. Of course, newspapers have been around much longer than that, since the 1700s actually.
But for many years now people, including us journalists, have been asking the same question: Are newspapers still relevant today?
I asked that question of ChatGPT and got a resounding, “Yes.”
The AI program offered five reasons newspapers are still relevant, and I can agree with all of them.
Reason 1: Trust and credibility. In an era of misinformation, newspapers with high standards continue to provide well-researched and fact-checked information.
We teach that in our classes here at Northwestern. We might not always hit the mark, but we keep trying.
Reason 2: Local focus. The “big” newspapers do a great job of covering world and national news, but no one covers our campus like the Northwestern News. Could we do it better? Yes, and we try every week to do that.
Reason 3: In-depth analysis: Newspapers can “offer comprehensive coverage and analysis of complex issues, allowing readers to gain a deeper understanding of current events,” according to ChatGPT.
The Northwestern News doesn’t do much of that simply because of a time issue. Professional newspapers doing something in-depth usually spend months doing research and interviews and then weeks writing.
Students just don’t have the time to do the necessary work in just a semester.
But we continue to try our best to do some in-depth reporting every semester. And the awards we win from the Oklahoma Press Association and the Oklahoma Collegiate Media Association agrees we are doing a pretty good job. We’ve taken first in in-depth and reporting categories for several years.
Reason 4: Public accountability. Holding governments and institutions accountable is one of the key roles investigative journalism plays in society.
Unfortunately, investigation journalists are the first ones to lose their jobs when newspapers have to make cuts.
If journalists aren’t there to make sure governments do what they should, then who will be holding government officials’ feet to the fire? Maybe no one, and that’s a scary thought.
When no one is keeping government in check, government can do things that probably shouldn’t be happening.
Every time I hear about a newspaper closing its doors, I wonder what will happen in that community now that no one is watching.
Reason 5: Adaptation to Digital. Many newspapers now have a digital presence as well as a printed one because they know they must do so in order to survive in the digital world in which we live.
Several daily newspapers, like the Salt Lake Tribune, publish news online every day but only prints one or two days a week. The Trib prints on Sunday and Wednesday.
Online is where the future of print journalism lies. The Northwestern News knows that, so you will also find our stories online at NorthwesternNews.rangerpulse.com, but also on the newsstands each week.
“While the media landscape has evolved,” ChatGPT wrote, “newspapers continue to play a vital role in informing and engaging the public.”
I sincerely hope that statement remains true for many decades to come.
