2019: The Now of News

The shakeout of 2010 was stormy. The year looked nothing like the movie 2010: A Space Odyssey predicted. There of course were talking cars, but the HAL was no where to be found. Most of the newspapers either folded while trying to keep print publications alive, or turned to the web as it underwent its evolution to a real force in the delivery of news and content directly to the user. President Obama’s well crafted economic recovery and thoughtful governance in his first term, ushered him into his second term. His interactive communications with the population made the Modular-evolvable Handheld and Cross-generational User-friendly Interactive Portable Information Device (MeHCgUfIPID) important to the current constituency. The next generation will be another challenge. This technology, with its full web capability, web based application software, person to person info transfer and body heat, friction, or solar energy architecture have become ubiquitous and cheap. The biggest design advance in 2012 was the bendable/foldable flex screen and the brainwave reader which, when properly trained, allowed one to operate their device using thought. Thankfully, by 2019, the brain wave reader no longer tuned-in to every person within 5 feet of the reader—it was a confusing time, and many people stuck with keyboard or voice recognition software since it much more reliable. The Brain Wave Receiver technology’s recent refinement means that the quiet of the keyboard entry can return after the years of inconsiderate chatterboxes talking to their devices in public spaces.

News has changed with the new technology too. The Brain Wave Reader means that if something comes to mind, one can activate their device to research the topic. The immediacy of news is constantly broadcast through public news broker agencies whose feeds come direct from the public feeds to the brokers who act as low-level editors. The amount of content they get is astonishing though, and so some choose to publish their own content sans editorial control creating even more My-voice web content. There are also newswire feeds direct from the professional journalist and photojournalist brokers who collect and stream news to their subscriber base, but since the content is reduced, the quality is much better.

The strange caste system that has developed in the face of citizen journalism means the more informed, and the better informed are those who pay the annual newswire subscription. The big benefit is the reduction in advertising interruptions. If you want your information free, but unfiltered, unrefined, and advertising laden, the public sourcing is always available, but one needs to be more skeptical of the information. Most who can afford the subscriptions, also get the public feed, however, just to get a fuller picture of the daily happenings since the even the pro’s can’t cover nearly as much as the masses. The short side of this is of course if you use public transport or walk down the streets of any city. The streets are filled with commentators, spilling their opinions onto the web about everything and anything. The person who uses the freely sourced public provided information will need to learn to filter out the information in which they have interest. Thankfully, public journalism has reached its crescendo. It seems that the need to be heard, seen and published has backfired enough times and become a turbulent force in many peoples lives, that the freedom of expression frenzy has been relinquished for the quiet and peace of moderated personal anonymity. The journalism professionals are becoming more valued and appreciated. Unfortunately, many of the most talented among them have left the profession for more lucrative employment.