In a Wall Street Journal editorial this week, Peter Funt, of Candid Camera fame, tells of surveying a class on college media about their reading habits. When asked, two students of forty indicated that they read a daily print newspaper. When he expanded the question to include on-line newspaper sites, a total of five hands were up. In asking where they get their news, he was told that the “important stuff” is relayed by text, tweet, and other social media. The question is in what depth and with what nuance?
Many of the challenges we face today can be traced directly to the shallowness of the news produced. USA began this trend in the early eighties and the impatience of digital media has perpetuated the belief that any issue, regardless of its complexity can be reduced to a couple hundred words.
At 56, my bias is to gather much of my information via print media. It troubles me no end to see the demise of articles of substance about the critical issues of our time. Sure, there is still an abundance of periodicals which drill down into complex issues. But the readership of this media skews heavily toward older individuals. With 140 characters becoming the standard of communication, how can expect young people to be responsible thinkers when it comes to issues facing all of us?
One of my favorite questions has always been, “What does it mean?” when teaching college students. Sadly, that question leaves many of them speechless. Sure, they can regurgitate what they find on line. But ask them to synthesize based on what they’ve read and you get a blank stare. How can we, as a society, hope to thrive if we are producing generations that never embrace the reading necessary to thinking critically about the issues that affect all of them every day? Regardless of your political persuasion, the solution to every one of these challenges is complex and nuanced. When those in the “next great generation” reduce the debate to texts and tweets, it impairs their ability to act in a meaningful way.
We cannot trust the future to those in elected office or in the media who, after all, are in the business of making money not informing the electorate. Please, I beg of you, READ!