Response to Bill Rose

Change is something we see through out the years; it’s apart of life. Every generation has gone through a change that most of the time has been defined by the younger generation. The media needs to remember this when they set out to pull in the people of America. You cannot attract people who you refuse to understand or relate to.

American newspapers are slow to change. Bill Rose claimed that American newspapers are slow to change because there is always a tug-a-war going on between the business side and the paper side of journalism. I don’t believe this is true. I feel that many newspapers are afraid of changing something that has been the same for many years. If you were to go and pull a newspaper from 20 years ago and compare it to one today you wouldn’t find very many differences. Even Rose said that U.S. newspapers tend to cling to what they’ve always done.

Rose stated that in order for change newsrooms have to take control. They have to be able to break down the walls. He said change was like a civil war in journalism. I understand where he is coming from, but I do not completely agree with him. I do not feel a newsroom as a whole can make the changes needed. Instead, I feel that it has to be individuals who do the changing. It has to be people who are willing to step up and not be afraid to take the fall if they mess up. They cannot be afraid of change, being the leader or thinking outside of the box.

Rose must remember that the older generation is already hooked on reading newspapers. It is the younger generation who needs to be pulled into the mix. Who better to do that than people from our own generation? To be able to pull us in, he must first be able to understand us; therefore, he should go straight to the source by bringing in people from our generation to help lead the newspaper into a new era.