“We still live in a country where there are two different Americas. One America that does the work, another America that reaps the rewards.”
-John Edwards
When talking about globalization, in the sense that Thom Friedman, Noam Chomsky, and Tom G. Palmer talk about the matter, you find yourself dealing with many splendid things. Globalization links economies, international trade, and, most importantly, expands communication. In globalization the world is at high speed, a speed dictated by iPones, computers, and this fantastic World Wide Web thingy you are using right now. We can send “letters” across the globe in the blink of an eye, pay our gas bill without buying stamps, purchasing medicines (and porn, for that matter) without leaving our futons, and learn of earthquakes, political revolutions, current baseball standings, and the death of Dom DeLuise all in real time. This can be a very good thing, if you are rich enough to afford such toys. Yet, this globalization is problematic. Globalization neglects two-thirds of the world and the scores of Americans whom don’t have admission to such playthings. The speed and fervor of this globalization has brought the death of print, and has widened the gap between the two Americas. I am certain this is nothing to you, right?
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer was founded in 1863 as a weekly community paper known as the Seattle Gazette. On March 17, 2009, the “P-I” closed its press completely, going to an online format only. This is one of a dozen stories I’ve heard regarding newspapers. The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, and even the mighty New York Times have joined the ranks of paper news outlets on life-support, cutting jobs and raising prices to stay afloat in the sea of Internet news. Last week, I saw a woman get into a vicious fight with a cashier at a local Barnes and Noble when discovering the price of her NY Times had increased by a quarter. Why the increase? No one buys the Times anymore, they just hit the website. In the end, the woman refused to buy the paper. The most surprising and saddening of news came on May 5th of 2009, when Keith Phipps reported his company, the satirical rag The Onion, was shutting down print operations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Outside of The Onion being extremely funny, they have demonstrated a strong business model and wise management since the papers inception in 1988. The reason for the closure? Pretty simple: an absence of ad revenue. Anyways, 61% of The Onions readers (ranging from 18-44, it’s key demographic) visit the paper online. Why shouldn’t The Onion swing this way? Last year they won a Peabody Award for their online content.
The issue of globalization, slowly but certainly, bringing the paper industry to its knees goes beyond the world of newspapers. Literary journals have been forced to go online as well. Poetry outlets such as Octopus, Diagram, and the historic The Columbia Review are using the net as their primary mode of presentation. Even the novel must be reconsidered in globalization. Chris Bachelder’s e-book, Lessons in Virtual Tour Photography, was McSweeney’s first career-development e-book. By 2004, more than 45,000 people had downloaded the novel. With paper, ink, and distribution costs rising, and no one buying, globalization is simply cost effective.
In a world with two Americas, as John Edwards spoke of, a world with rich and poor, education, commerce, and communication has left the poor behind, while the rich rep the rewards. To some degree I’m writing of the poor in the Bronx, East St. Louis, South Chicago, and the 15.9 million people living in poverty across America, but the victims of a paperless society are the people in tent cities in Sacramento, the trailer parks outside New Orleans, and the Colonias on the boarder between the United States and Mexico. I’m writing about places without electricity, plumbing, or even working stoves to cook on. I’m writing of places that are growing in a hard economy forcing people into homelessness. Our country is quickly becoming less equipped in helping those who don’t have access to monster.com, or homes.com. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer once offered a section for job searches. Now the people of Seattle need to go online to find it. Without the Internet, and dwindling option of book and newspaper resources, these people have limited options for education, advancement, and economic opportunities.
A solution to this dilemma might be simple. Many have proposed, most notably John Edward’s former running mate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, to allow papers to operate under a 501(3)(c), the same Internal Revenue Service status that is utilized by churches, hospitals, educational institutions, public broadcasting and other nonprofit institutions. This idea will be difficult to pass legislation with the polarization and political alliances of media outlets, but might be the only way for newspapers to fight off extinction and continue to offer the two Americas a fair opportunity to learn of earthquakes, political revolutions, current baseball standings, and the death of Dom DeLuise. Until then, the gap between the two Americas will continue to grow. Globalization is a splendid thing, if you are rich enough to afford its toys.
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Timothy Braun is a writer living in Austin, TX. He has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, HERE Arts Center, Edward Albee Foundation, and a Warhol Fellowship at the Santa Fe Art Institute. He is a frequent contributor to the Austin Chronicle, culturebot.org, and is the founder of Federal Prisoner 30664. He holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts and is a Cultural Studies professor at St. Edward’s University. Learn more at timothybraun.com.
Tagged in: ad revenue, digital gap, end of print, globalization
