The Form

The Form:

The New York Times currently stands as the epitome of American Journalism. Nationwide people refer to The New York Times to learn about current events. In the last decade however, the face of The New York Times has evolved as it has moved steadily to the Internet. Now not only are people reaching for the newspaper with their morning coffee, they are browsing the Internet for news when they first get to work in the morning. Inevitably each kind of media has its own style that guides its readers in different ways. Each media has its advantages and disadvantages that I would now like to discuss.

When glancing at the newspaper I discover that the front page, which is of course the first thing any reader sees, contains mostly international news as well as depressing articles. Typically each day on the front page there is one article that has a large photo that takes up the top center of the page. Immediately my eyes are drawn to this photo and inevitably I find myself looking for the article that is related to the photo. It seems that the print version of The New York Times gears its readers toward international news, since those are the articles that dominate the front page. At the bottom of the page there are small blurbs that refer to articles that appear on later pages in the newspaper. However, these blurbs do not draw the eye the way large picture does on the top center of the front page.

While visiting The New York Times website I discover that on the primary page there are also international articles, however other categories such as business and art appear more accessible online. The categories appear on the left side of the screen and although it seems small, it is much easier to simply click on a category to find an article than it is to sift through a pound or two of paper. Like the newspaper, online also typically has a large picture on the opening page, which draws the attention of readers. However, The New York Times online contains more pictures in general, most likely because Internet does not limit writers and photographers to a confined amount of space the way print does. The increased amount of photos can be aesthetically pleasing especially to those who need visuals in order to learn or grasp concepts.

To each form of media there are advantages and disadvantages. I find that the newspaper is easier on my eyes since it does not produce its own light like a computer does. On the other hand I do not like having stacks of paper take up space in my room, and with the Internet I can access any date or article without taking up any space in my room. While I’m walking about campus I would much rather have a newspaper with me, so that I can pull it out at any time to browse through it for articles. On campus I do not find it convenient to carry my computer around with me, and looking online in the library is not as convenient as the paper either. With the paper I can multitask; eat breakfast or lunch while I’m in the commons. So in the end it is hard to pick one form of media over another; however, I do think it would be an enormous mistake to complete devoid the world of print news, since it still has many advantages.