Trying to decide

I have been having some issues deciding exactly where I stand on the debate of whether or not traditional media will be defunct in 15 years. I've been sitting here watching/listening to Epic 2014, a mockumentary of sorts hypothesizing the future of media and the convergence of media outlets by 2014. It's an interesting video we watched in class and it really started my thinking about change and technology. Although this video is just a "what could be" idea, I found myself really bothered by all the changes and where we may be headed in the future.

I'm not sure why I find it so hard to believe that by 2021 everything could be changed, but then, I remember when the internet became popular. Kids growing up with it now don’t have to use the archaic methods I used to get information. My family had the actual shelf set of A - Z Encyclopedias! We owned a computer with its black screen and white/green lettering... then upgraded to newer model where I played “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” with my 1988 World Atlas at my side. News for my parents was the morning paper and the evening 6PM report and maybe something like Headline News as an addition. Coverage of big events meant that my regularly scheduled programming was interrupted - the Berlin Wall being torn down; the oil fields on fire during Desert Storm; or even OJ Simpson on the run.

As I entered high school, the internet became the BIG thing. Computers were added to schools to accommodate this new learning tool. I remember learning to use email for the first time in January 1996. To think, that was ten years ago. And now, checking my email is part of my daily routine. Home computer sales went up as people discovered this phenomenon and found that it was imperative to their children's learning to have one. I went to college in 1997 and all my friends had their own personal computers and we did all of our research and correspondence online.

I don't recall being very aware of news at that age, or before; it was boring and if there was something to worry about my parents would tell me. In fact, my mother cuts out clippings of "news" to send me on a regular basis (and still does). Of course, this news was primarily local news I would find interesting - pictures of the lake levels, who's marrying who, obituaries, and anything that had to do with something I was interested in. Otherwise, I might have watched some local news or just checked my homepage (MSN).

It wasn't until winter 2000 when I attended Oxford and spent a lot of time around people more aware of the world than I was, especially important in an election year, that I realized I was clueless. I used the internet to chat to people at home, not for news. I did, however, find that I developed a love and trust for the BBC World News. It was a combination of accent and presentation - and let's face it, for some reason if something is said in a British accent, it just sounds knowledgeable and right.

Leaving the UK, I reentered the USA as Gore and Bush were campaigning and I tried to become an aware citizen to make an informed decision. Having never really paid attention to the state of things outside my bubble, I found that for once I had to take things into my own hands.

To shorten the next 5-6 years and bringing us to today, I find that as an adult I am much more aware of things in the media now than ever before. I find that I am beginning to question my methods for receiving news and the trust I have in the media. For example, I watched V for Vendetta recently and the media plays a big part in that movie. It suggested that journalists sometimes know the truth, but cannot report it because it would cause chaos. (This is an extreme claim. The movie was based on a totalitarian government.) It also implied that many people just take the news at face value. And then, why shouldn't we? Isn't the point of journalism to report what's really happening? Not to sugarcoat the issues, but to present the facts in a logical order? It's interesting to think of media as the new opiate for the masses. We are entertained and informed, occasionally we are provoked to challenge and think, but mostly we just accept and move on.

So what bothers me so much is that while watching Epic 2014 I found myself not sure I am ready to accept what could be coming my way. What started with Newspapers -> Radio -> Television -> Internet -> has brought the introduction of Mp3 players, Ipods, PDAs, and internet on our cell phones. People talk about liking their fast food, but the impatience has spilled over into our news as well. Who wants to wait on a letter in the mail when you can have e-mail? We use instant messengers to have immediate feedback and use text messages to spread news faster and more cost effectively than a phone call. We have Tivo and podcasts so we can have whatever show we want to watch/hear at our command. So what's coming can only be bigger and faster and supposedly better, right?

I'm not sure.

Sloan, Robin and Matt Thompson. Epic 2014. (http://www.robinsloan.com/epic/) Shockwave movie. 2005.