Decreasing Newspaper Readership -- Journalism Journalistic Essays

Decreasing Newspaper Readership Newspapers are nothing without readers: no argument here. â€Å"They are the reason we produce the paper in the first place,† Noah Bombard, editor of The Beacon in Acton, said. Many newspapers across the country have had yearly decreases in readership and circulation numbers for years. These decreases have added up causing newspaper editors to worry. â€Å"We’ve lost 5,000 subscribers in the last decade. That’s not unusual,† James H. Smith, executive editor, The Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn., said. Ten years ago, the Record-Journal’s subscribers totaled 30,000; today the paper has 25,000, Smith said. The bad news doesn’t seem to be ending for newspapers. Research conducted in the area of readership is only echoing what newspapers have known all along: newspapers are losing readers. â€Å"Nationwide newspaper circulation peaked in the 1970s,† David Solomon, editor of The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H, said. Studies conducted of American newspapers today show that readership is traveling down a continuously steady downward spiral. According to the recent â€Å"The State of the News Media 2005† report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism: â€Å"‘Newspaper circulation is in decline,’ the inaugural edition of this report declared a year ago†¦it's clear that things are worse than people thought.† The problem is newspapers can’t afford to lose readers because they are nothing without their readers. â€Å"Without readers, a paper would have no value, no audience, no purpose,† Solomon said. When newspapers lose readers they also lose advertising. Without advertising, newspapers lose their greatest source of income and papers have no way of paying the high costs of production. And without a product newspapers are not... ... of topics,† â€Å"The State of the News Media 2005† said. And not everyone is ditching the newspaper for the screen. There are still some readers who consider newspapers the only source for news. â€Å"There is evidence that more people are reading the newspaper at work or in settings like coffee shops and waiting rooms and that the demographic groups newspapers have a harder time reaching, like women and young people, are well represented among occasional readers of this kind,† â€Å"The State of the News Media 2005† said. â€Å"I’m not convinced people are reading on the Internet. Baby-boomers, I think, they’re the ones still reading the actual paper and they’re the majority. It’s just not an efficient way of reading the paper,† Van Wormer said. â€Å"They should research how a paper feels. It’s like fine bookkeeping. That will keep the newspaper above other media,† Van Wormer said.

Liberal education Essay

According to Perry, the aim of a liberal education is for one to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed and reasonable decisions. Any other consequences should be treated as merely incidental. He explains that the first means to this end is through the simple gaining of knowledge by memorization of certain key facts, such as the periodic table. This is often necessary, and should not be avoided, but too often it is seen as synonymous with learning. In his essay, â€Å"Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts: A Study in Educational Epistemology,† William G. Perry, Jr. uses the term â€Å"cow† to describe â€Å"writing on the assumption that `a fact is a fact.’ †¦ presenting evidence of hard work as a substitute for understanding†¦Ã¢â‚¬  while using the somewhat more traditional term â€Å"bull† to mean deception as to the presence of actual data. I definitely agree with Perry’s opinion on what education should foster, the purpose of education is to enable students to learn for themselves, not to spoon-feed them every fact they will ever need in their lives. Current day teachers have a huge influence on how education is nurtured. I believe that the problem nowadays is that many teachers feel a need to have students undergo the same thinking process as them, and to arrive at the same conclusion in the same way. Many teachers have made students hate reading because when asked about a certain aspect of the book, the teachers never really wanted to hear your thoughts but rather, what they thought it was. Because of this, one finds many students lacking the ability to think for themselves. The students get in the mindset of â€Å"what would the teacher want me to say†. The â€Å"cows† are unable to look beneath the bare facts in order to understand why something has taken place. Not only do they lack imagination, they lack the ability to truly think. Therefore, one would be robbing himself of his education and soul. Unfortunately, this approach to learning is held by many, both students and teachers. Education should encourage students to learn how to make connections between facts, and give them the ability to use this process throughout life.

Essay The Phantom of the Opera - 1576 Words

The Phantom of the Opera directed by Joel Schumacher is the 2004 adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical of the same name. The Phantom of the Opera stars Gerard Butler as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaà ©, and Patrick Wilson as Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, who are embroiled in a love triangle. The film was met with generally mixed and negative reviews: Schumacher’s use of mise-en-scà ¨ne, cinematography and editing, as well as symbolism contributes to the production of The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom of the Opera centers on the Paris Opera House which has over time become the Phantom’s domain. Upon the news that the opera house has been bought and is under new ownership, the Phantom demands that the new owners†¦show more content†¦He then sequesters her and she willingly follows him into his underworld lair. Christine appears mesmerized and intrigued by the Phantom and does nothing to escape, but rather sees him as her à ¢â‚¬Å"angel of music.† Trouble begins when the opera company refuses to give in to the Phantom’s demands and Raoul and Christine fall in love. The Phantom’s jealous rage endangers the opera company, as well as the lives of Raoul and Christine. His final demand is finally met when the opera company agrees to put on the opera, â€Å"Don Juan†, which he was written specifically for Christine. During â€Å"Don Juan’s† performance, the Phantom infiltrates the production and kidnaps Christine one last time. Raoul risks his life chasing after the Phantom and Christine. In the final showdown between Raoul and the Phantom, Raoul is overtaken by the Phantom and Christine must choose which man she wants to be with. In the end, the Phantom lets Christine and Raoul go. Though it is not shown that they lead a happy life together, it is implied that they got married and had children as the final scene depicts Raoul visiting his wife, Christineâ€⠄¢s, grave (Schumacher). Symbolism plays a major role in The Phantom of the Opera. Christine is represented as being young and innocent. She is often depicted wearing white. Unlike her predecessor, Carlotta, Christine does not appear to be interested in material possessions. Much like the Phantom, Christine is an orphanShow MoreRelatedThe Phantom Of The Opera1387 Words   |  6 PagesPhantom of the Opera has been around for longer than I can recall, being the musical to talk about among my family as something grand. When I was the age of only fourteen I received the honor of performing the musical for the first time, although I had to learn a great deal about the script for that performance, the history behind The Phantom of the Opera is not clear to me. So I started my research their tied to the original piece. Phantom of the opera.com gave a timeline that had the backgroundRead MoreThe Phantom Of The Opera1408 Words   |  6 PagesOn the 2 April, 2016, I went to see the lo ngest-running production in Broadway history, â€Å"The Phantom of the Opera† at Majestic Theater on 247 West 44th Street Manhattan, New York. The opening night, premiere of the spectacle was on January 26, 1988. The musical is based on the novel â€Å"Le Fantom de L’Opera† by Gaston Leroux, under Harold Prince directory. The organizer of the theater production is Philip J.Smith and Robert E. Wankel is the president. The musical is classified as a horror in genreRead MoreThe Phantom Of The Opera1226 Words   |  5 PagesThe Phantom of the Opera started out as a book written by Gaston Leroux, published January 8th in 1910 (Haining, 1). There have been several adaptations since then, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. The other adaptations were Das Phantom der Opera, which is also known as Das Gespent im Opernhaus produced during 1916 in Germany as a silent drama film, this is known as a lost film due to no known copies existing at this time. A silent drama horror was produced on November 15th, 1925, a dramaRead MoreThe Phantom Of The Opera1429 Words   |  6 PagesThe movie I chose to examine was The Phantom of the Opera. I have seen the live musical once in New York, but for some odd reason I have never seen the movie version before. Watching it again for this paper, in a whole new format, is as if I’m experiencing it for the first time again. While perhaps I should have pic ked a musical I have yet to seen before (regardless that it was the live production), I simply could not resist watching perhaps my favorite musical (closely tied with Wicked) and applyingRead MorePhantom of the Opera Review776 Words   |  3 Pages Phantom of the Opera is the longest running musical to date and has become one of the most beloved and well known musicals on Broadway. The musical was inspired and loosely based on the characters and the story of the book Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. This CD is the original London cast which means that this recording is with the first cast that ever preformed the musical with the actors that created the parts. The musical was written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber who is one of theRead MoreEssay On Phantom Of The Opera1143 Words   |  5 PagesPhantom of the Opera was created by the amazing Andrew Lloyd Webber. Andrew was born on March 22, 1948, in South Kensington in London, England. He was the first of two sons of Wil liam Lloyd Webber, who was an organist and composer. His mother, Jean Johnstone, was a pianist and violinist. Andrew Lloyd Webber learned to play many musical instruments at home and began composing extremely early. He continued his musical studies at Westminster School, where his father was an organist. At the age of 9Read MorePhantom Of The Opera Analysis1310 Words   |  6 PagesTragic Love (A Discussion on Aristotle’s Elements of Tragedy Displayed in the storyline of, Phantom of the Opera) With the passing of years, many works of art in respect to drama fit their content around their time period, addressing issues of the world in that era. This will undoubtedly create influential and poignant stories addressing issues of a time period, yet the truly classic works of drama incorporate themes of tragedy that any human can identify with. Works of drama that truly cast a longstandingRead MorePhantom Of The Opera Analysis1897 Words   |  8 PagesThe Phantom of the Opera is both a novel by Gaston Leroux ( Le Fantome de l’Opera, 1910) and was later adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber (1986) in musical form. All information is from both the novel and musical/movie to further explain the main focus. The primary concept of this analysis will be centered on the Phantom’s denial from society, loss of hope, love, deceitfulness, carelessness and compassion. These components all combine to result the audience and/or reader to feel sorrow and sympathy forRead MoreEssay on Phantom of the Opera539 Words   |  3 Pages Phantom of the Opera nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In the novel, Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux, we are introduced to a character known to everyone as the mysterious Opera Ghost. His character in this book is very complex. Although the Opera Ghost is very ugly physically and mentally, through his actions, we can find much beauty. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;During the masked ball we are given, what the reader believes at the time, a very good physical description of the OperaRead MoreThe Phantom of the Opera Essay1375 Words   |  6 PagesThe Phantom of the Opera is a novel written by Gaston Leroux. The novel takes place in Paris. The exact time is unknown but would be around 1910. The reviews from the critics are very different. Although Gaston Lerouxs The Phantom of the Opera has not generally been highly commended by critics, many would agree that there are several elements that prove Leroux to be a talented writer. One of the strongest elements in the novel is the narrators voice. The narrator is on a quest