Print journalism must be preserved
Issue date: 7/10/08 Section: Opinions
As technology begins to percolate throughout the information world, print journalism begins to become obsolete, making the future of journalism as a whole ambiguous.
To help clarify the obscurity of this enigma is Leonard Tow, who has challenged universities such as Columbia and City University of New York, by donating a total of $8 million so that they may mold and cultivate the future of journalism.
"The funds are meant for examining how the troubled newspaper business can succeed online, and in training journalism students in new media," Tow said.
A former chief executive of Citizens Communications and Century Communications, Tow emphasizes the importance of technology and digital media which is imperative to the future of writing.
If no one fights to preserve the journalism trade then it will inevitably become an archaic art form, which will fade in comparison to the technological advances of the 21st century.
Although technology makes information more accessible and expedites the process of learning, print journalism is tangible and has served as the engine for knowledge since the 15th century, when the first printing press was created in Germany.
"It seemed to me the appropriate time to at least plant the seeds for a kind of new integrity in Internet journalism," Tow said.
The planters who will sow the seeds of journalistic integrity are CUNY's Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation and Columbia University's journalism department.
Namely, the Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation will "function as a research center for the profession, working on new Internet business models for news organizations and developing new ventures," according to the New York Times.
The journalism school's dean, Stephen B. Shepard, hopes that the center would invite venture capitalists to inspire the most beneficial ideas similar to the origin of other fields such as Google and Yahoo, which were both developed in Stanford graduate programs.
To help clarify the obscurity of this enigma is Leonard Tow, who has challenged universities such as Columbia and City University of New York, by donating a total of $8 million so that they may mold and cultivate the future of journalism.
"The funds are meant for examining how the troubled newspaper business can succeed online, and in training journalism students in new media," Tow said.
A former chief executive of Citizens Communications and Century Communications, Tow emphasizes the importance of technology and digital media which is imperative to the future of writing.
If no one fights to preserve the journalism trade then it will inevitably become an archaic art form, which will fade in comparison to the technological advances of the 21st century.
Although technology makes information more accessible and expedites the process of learning, print journalism is tangible and has served as the engine for knowledge since the 15th century, when the first printing press was created in Germany.
"It seemed to me the appropriate time to at least plant the seeds for a kind of new integrity in Internet journalism," Tow said.
The planters who will sow the seeds of journalistic integrity are CUNY's Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation and Columbia University's journalism department.
Namely, the Tow Center for Journalistic Innovation will "function as a research center for the profession, working on new Internet business models for news organizations and developing new ventures," according to the New York Times.
The journalism school's dean, Stephen B. Shepard, hopes that the center would invite venture capitalists to inspire the most beneficial ideas similar to the origin of other fields such as Google and Yahoo, which were both developed in Stanford graduate programs.