Before the age of the interwebs, if
a journalist wanted to do some real research, he or she had to pull
out their library card and dust off the newsroom’s microfiche machine.
But like how the typewriter gave way to the word processor and then the computer, those
tools for journalists have become archaic. All thanks to Google.
All without
leaving the newsrooms, journalists have access to more information than the
predecessors ever had. Google makes it possible to trace old stories, follow up
on tips, scan through the day’s big headlines and read about the current round
of layoffs at newspapers.In fact, when journalists want to read about the death
of newspapers, their source of choice is Google News.
While some
may resent Google’s role in the death decline of newspapers as the
primary source of advertisement news, the power and appeal of Google
is too hard to resist. In fact, if Google existed during the Watergate scandal,
“All the President’s Men” could have been wrapped up in a “Law & Order”
episode. As Google improves and continues to absorb data, journalists
will have fewer and fewer reasons to venture into the catacombs of libraries
and other research centers.
For many
journalists, it’s hard to imagine what reporting would be like without Google
and the Internet. Present a microfiche machine to a J-school student and
they’ll probably respond with, “I didn’t think anyone used fax machines
anymore.”
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I still meet people – even editors! – who never use Google. And I think, “How the hell do you get anything done?”