It's good news

For 20 years I anticipated that the nature of reading, and newspapers, would change. My argument was that the laws of economics would not tolerate printing ink and postage if a cheaper method of transmitting information was available.

I was wrong, sort of. Then, not now. The day may actually be close at hand. Literally.

Two weeks ago I finally got tired of waiting for AT&T to bring the iPhone to Central Oregon and I bought an Android smart phone. One of it's features is a browser. Doesn't cost me any more to use than my old plan.

The screen is bright and sharp. And interestingly, it is about the width of a column of type in a newspaper. I can read The Nugget Newspaper of Sisters Oregon, or the New York Times. I can make the type larger or smaller. It is convenient to read at the coffee shop, or the doctor's office, in my car waiting for my daughters after school.

This may be it, the end of newsPAPERS as we know them. I may have been early, but others have written about the convenience of the small screen (read it here).

That does not mean it is the end of "news." Yes, newspapers are falling on hard times with competition from Google and Craig's list. Yes, the financial model of news organizations will have to change.

But as the efficiency of electronic transmission of information hammers traditional papers, there is still money to be made from content. There will be a transition, but at some point, good writers and good editors will prevail, as much because of the glut of information as despite it. We will turn to sources we can trust over time.

Readers will find quality because it has value.

Even as we assimilate it from our phones.

The "death panel" lies

For the real history of how the more corrupt right wing of the Republican Party tried to hijack the health care debate, read this account by Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer (Read it here).

I have disagreed with the Congressman in the past, but in this account, he dissects the process of how the right wing warped and twisted part of the debate. He was there. He is the authority.

From this viewpoint, one of Blumenauer's most significant charges is aimed at the U.S. news media. They have abdicated their responsibility. Fair presentation of the news is not measured by weighing ink, counting words, and presenting "each side."

Responsible media (not entertainment networks like "Fox") have an obligation to establish context and present the "truth." Yes, some ideas are more true than others. By failing to work harder, think deeper, and take risk, those news organizations which treat all ideas equally are aiding and abetting the liars.

The first amendment exists because truth matters.