A video's worth ten-thousand words

"I was in school that day, but we sat and watched the news. When that second tower collapsed every jaw dropped and not a single sound came out. In that moment, the whole nation seemed to have stood still, we were silent. It is this picture that will stay vividly in my mind for the rest of my life. Reading about it the next day in the newspaper was simply not the same. The impact of those live video feeds was monumental."

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My political science professor has probably been around since the beginning of time. And it seems like every class period he has to bring up our generation vs. his generation. Normally, I ignore him. I prefer to take notes out of the textbook during his lectures because this is what is on the quizzes and test and his lectures seem to be pretty pointless. But every now and then, I happen to hear him say something that is either totally ridiculous, or that I disagree with, or both.

Well this time, he decides to bring up television media vs. newspapers. He, of course, prefers newspapers. His claim is that television news programs are not good news sources and that it would be better if we went back to having only newspapers. Why? Because they only cover what they choose to cover since there are time restrictions in television. And the coverage they do provide is never as "in depth" as it claims to be, but it just a brief summary. He says that our generation prefers television over a newspaper because we are too lazy and are, therefore, not informed on the issues.

Now I agree that television does not cover all the news that can be found in a newspaper, but, seriously, who reads EVERYTHING in a newspaper. Every day I read the Wall Street Journal. No, I do not read the whole thing since I'm in college and don't have a whole day to waste reading the newspaper. I usually skim through the paper and read the articles that looks interesting or important. I also skip through all the things that are in the paper every single day. I know that our economy is terrible right now, but how many times do you have to tell me the same thing?!?!

I don't watch the news on television because, I don't really care what Brittney Spears is doing. Also, I feel like it a waste of my time, since I have to sit and wait for the news I want to hear to come on because they have to get through the other news stories first. I admit, I do prefer a newspaper, but I still don't agree with my professor and his ideas that television news is worthless.

Television gives us something that a newspaper simply cannot compare to: speed and visuals. Our news is delivered as soon as it starts happening and can be reported to the public immediately. It also provides us with video footage, rather than a few selective snapshots.

An example of this would be the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. I was in 11 years old when this happened, but I can still remember with vivid detail what I looked like when the towers fell. Almost immediately after the first plan hit, cameras flooded to the scene and started broadcasting live to the public.

I was in school that day, but we sat and watched the news. When that second tower collapsed every jaw dropped and not a single sound came out. In that moment, the whole nation seemed to have stood still, we silent. It is this picture that will stay vividly in my mind for the rest of my life. A newspaper simply cannot produce this effect. Reading about it the next day in the newspaper was simply not the same. The impact of those live video feeds was monumental.