By Steve Ryan
Faculty Member, English at American Public University
“The Post is closing. The Post is closing. That’s it.” Those were the words of a few hundred editors, reporters and photographers in the early 1990s when it seemed that the New York Post, one of the oldest daily newspapers in the world, was closing down for good. Due to union issues with management, it seemed that the paper best known for its sensationalism should have died back then. But as a young reporter back then, I had a “feeling” that one does not just shut down an institution like The Post or any other major daily… just like that. “I don’t think so….” I said back then.
Today, more than 20 years after losing my job as a journalist with The Post during a well-publicized strike against owner Rupert Murdoch, I look at the newsstands in New York City and what do I see? The New York Post. But I don’t just see The Post. Amazing as that seems in 2013, there are still four major dailies selling on the streets of the Big Apple. Newspapers have not died; they have just adapted their ways. In many ways, it is a new journalism.
Is it still the same Post as it was back in 1993? Or when Alexander Hamilton founded the paper back in 1801? The Post, like many other papers, has changed the way it does things. Today, journalists, editors, and photojournalists are active on the web with material that can be read and seen only on the web. Journalists who write articles today serve a dual purpose, not just to the newsstand readers, but to also the web readers.
My interview with Joe DiMaggio in 1991 may have only been read by a few thousand newsstand readers, but an interview today gets potentially read by hundreds of thousands in print and on the web. The web has created opportunity for journalists in more ways than one. News outlets like The Post, Daily News, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other major dailies now have ways to reach readers within seconds. Today, a “breaking story” is online and on various subscriber’s iPads, iPhones and other gadgets within seconds. But just 20 years ago it would take 6-7 hours to get that “breaking story” in print and on the trucks to spread across newsstands in the big city.
Historically, newspapers have been one of the first mediums to break stories. Journalists have covered wars for a few centuries and reported their observations, interviews and facts in print. I was a transcriber for Uri Dan, an international reporter in Israel, back in the 1980s. I would connect with Uri via phone and type his story in to get it into the paper on time. Today, that story is transmitted electronically within seconds.
In addition to being a writer for a print publication and the web, journalists today have the opportunity to “blog” and share their observations through this type of column. Blogs have become a popular column similar to editorializing in the print industry. In many ways, blogs have become the observation of the reporter or journalist, not just the facts. Blogging has also become a lucrative money-making method for those who can scribe their words and examples into print or into the web.
The future for journalists is brighter than ever because there are boundless opportunities for those who want to write and take photographs to get published.
About the Author:
Steve Ryan was a reporter and editor for the New York Post in the 1980s and early 1990s. He then moved to California to become editor of a publishing firm. Steve has been writing articles for numerous newspapers and magazines throughout the country. His biggest articles were live interviews with Joe DiMaggio on the 50th anniversary of his hitting streak; Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and hundreds of other athletes.
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