Sunday, November 9th, 2018

Early in the morning, I stumble groggily to the front door to search for my Sunday paper. Only when the cold December wind stings my face am I fully roused. I scratch my head and wonder why I still look for a newspaper, there has not been a daily paper in my city for nearly five years. USA Today, The Times, the Post and the Wall street journal are still available, but they are a mere shadow of their former selves, and they are prohibitively expensive. At least I can read the news of the day at MyGoogleNews.com/profile/frankstrahan. I will enjoy a cup of coffee and the news selected specifically for me.

If I need something else, I can always listen to the radio. I can chose between any of the three corporations that now control most of the airwaves. Disney, Clear Channel, and Fox have own their versions of news on many stations, so I just have to choose my poison. I miss National Public Radio. When things got really bad in 2009, the lost all of their federal support, and listener support just could not keep up.

Has this all come about because of the balkanization of media? Cable television has fractured television viewing, Internet access has splintered the shared experience to almost nothing. Newspapers have fallen apart due to declining readership and poor management, and citizen journalists now compete for everyone's news viewing time. Things were falling apart for conventional media, and they sought a new way of doing business. Conventional media found a solution in the business model of Craig's list, Facebook and YouTube. Trading in personal information became very popular. Collecting and selling personal information funds news organizations, and targets content to the user in a way never imagined 10 years ago. I imagine that eventually this source of income will dry up too, and any remaining media outlets will join forces to survive.

So what can I do to find so truth in the news of the day that I seek? I will unplug, and talk to my neighbors. I will go to city council meetings, and be involved in the real world. Maybe I could publish a local , neighborhood newspaper….