Petition for news blackout reinforces democracy

The Issue: Petition calls for week-long online news cut

What we think: Petition stresses importance of journalism

With the rise of online media and the decline in readership of the American newspaper, a new petition has recently surfaced to reverse this trend. It calls for one week without virtual newspapers, encouraging publishers to take down their Web sites for seven days between July 4 and July 10.

Ironically enough, this petition originated on a Blog created by TJ Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan developed the petition on Feb. 6 on a page called "Know Newspapers." This tangent site houses the online petition that can be signed by any concerned citizen. Sullivan makes it clear that this action is not meant to save newsprint per se. Rather, the week-long Web blackout petition is meant to draw attention to the supreme importance of free and independent news reporting in our American democracy. Sullivan writes that "the blackout that the petition endorses is intended to raise awareness about the crisis being faced by newspapers and the colossal domino effect that their demise is sure to have on all news organizations and American democracy." He believes that the blackout would be successful if it makes people aware of the dire "effect that the loss of newspapers will have on democracy as well as every other type of news-gathering organization."

Thomas Jefferson once mused, "Were it left for me to decide between having a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I shouldn't hesitate to prefer the latter." Sullivan and many other concerned Americans believe this idea is being lost in the midst of modern news sources. People approach the news casually, clicking and scanning story upon story from Web site upon Web site. News reading has become a passive activity due to the ubiquity of quick and dirty newspaper sites and the more problematic aggregate news dumps. If this petition is successful in having major news sources like the New York Times and the Associated Press shut down their online publications, people would be forced to actively search for their news by purchasing hardcopy newspapers. Now, Mr. Sullivan and others take a leap of faith in assuming that people will bypass 24-hour cable news for print news; their rationale seems to be that the dearth of quick online information would force people to recognize the vapidity and general fluff of cable news. Regardless of whether this assumption is accurate, news consumers also have the option of turning to citizen journalists for information. Enter the blog.

While the Internet has opened up a myriad of new opportunities for journalism, it has also led to rampant blogging. Bloggers can be interesting sources of information, offering a variety of perspectives, but they pale in comparison to professional journalists. While newspapers rely on facts and sources for in-depth news analysis, bloggers rely on their own opinions and the sensationalism of the topic covered. Professional journalists are held accountable for what they print. Bloggers have no such safeguards. Bloggers can also be handicapped by their lack of experience and their limited wherewithal in covering events, whereas major newspapers have the breadth of expertise and availability of resources to give comprehensive coverage.

Despite some flaws of major media outlets, they have been instrumental in challenging the status quo and checking government power throughout American history. It is no surprise that the media is often called the fourth branch of government, acting as a safeguard to the public interest. Critical reporting helped to end the Vietnam War and revealed the secret failures of the Bush administration in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Americans must understand the importance of the newspaper in democracy. The First Amendment to the Constitution specifically reserves the right for a free press - the founders were counting on the media to play an important role. But the Internet, with its ability to crown every Joe Six Pack a Citizen Kane, has undercut the incentive for high-quality journalism.

We at The Heights are in solidarity with professional news organizations and the creators of this online petition as we always strive for the ideals and standards elucidated above. BC students concerned about the preservation of American democracy through print journalism are encouraged to sign the "Know Newspapers" petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/savenews/petition.html