In his column today for the Irish Times Garret Fitzgerald, the former Taoiseach of Ireland, has dived into the debate about interaction between print and electronic media.
In the piece titled: Interaction between print and electronic media seems limited, Fitzgerald says: I have frequently been struck by the way in which the electronic media often seem reluctant to publicise stories that break in the print media – and equally by what seems in many cases to be a corresponding unwillingness on the part of the print media to follow up major stories that break in radio or , more commonly, on TV.”
This is an interesting point. Very rarely do we see stories broke by newspapers on the internet. However, my memory suggests that it has been done the other way around. For example the recent Prince Harry in Afghanistan debacle.
Could it be that the supposed xenephobia of newspapers when it comes to new technology be totally over the top? Could it be that the internet and technology are actually guilty of not facilitating the other when it comes to the battle between print and the internet?
The word battle is a bit disingenuous. However it is something that the internet community would certainly believe they are in. Compare this to the facilitary nature of newspaper towards technology and one can see that maybe the internet has an agenda in all of this.
Fitzgerald asks: Is this perhaps a reflection of some kind of jealousy between the tow arms of media?” I think that the old man of politics in Ireland has hit the nail on the head.
The new media is jealous of print for one reason: Print and traditional media have an authenticity that the internet and all it’s technology can never, and in my opinion will never have.
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