Another for the WTF File.

So I finally took a break from managing group dynamics and suicide risk assessment to see what else was happening in the world. Given that I haven't read much of anything that doesn't relate to psychology, I thought I would finally dive into a magazine totally unrelated to how the human mind works. A few weeks ago, I happened to be a Barnes and Noble picking up a gift and also snagged a copy of The Atlantic, a magazine that I don't typically read but it had a catchy title about how the Internet is making us stupid. Interesting.

One article in particular caught my attention. Now I realize it's been awhile since I've been connect to the world at large and even more time has passed since I was connected to the world of journalism. But, nonetheless, I still have a fondness for newspapers. It's the world on which I cut my teeth. So when I read an article about Rupert Murdoch buying the Wall Street Journal, I felt the need to grab a picket sign and storm the offices (a leftover urge to protest from Kent).

What the F***! I understand that the days of newspapers are numbered. I mourn the fact that in my lifetime, ink-stained fingers after a Sunday morning with the New York Times may disappear. In this day of technological consumption of news, it won't be long until newspapers will be relics.

But is it really necessary to desecrate one of the last bastions of quality in newspaper journalism as we become slaves to the computers? Murdoch owns Fox Freakin' News and a bunch of shitty gossip rags in London. He intends to set it up to compete with the NY Times. But given the draw to profit and his history, it will most likely pull to the quality of the NY Post.

It is a sad day for all of us who grew out of the simplicity of black and white print.