Dear Editor:
It has become increasingly apparent that we have begun to no longer seek to scrutinize and evaluate news but, instead, insist in immediate and abbreviated accounts of world and local events.
This is evident in the wake of reports showing that many leading newspapers are on the verge of failing or having already done so with the television stations no longer presenting genuine news but rather provocative reports which resemble entertainment highlights and the internet more akin to a speedy announcement of the latest developments in the world, we are left with no time for a suitable digestion of the events in order to form an individual opinion of what is happening around us.
Our present period of time is one of unparalleled technological advancement but we are being caught up in the whirlwind of the accelerated progress at a most severe cost. In being on top of the latest developments as soon as they occur, we are deprived of sufficient time to absorb precisely what is taking place before being mesmerized by a following incident.
If newspapers and magazines continue to decline in circulation, we will face a critical stage in the communication of information to the people, for in the absence of editorials and columns, the average resident will have no difference of opinion. However, with the overall lessening of reading, in general, perhaps we no longer wish to form personal opinions, to internalize or to even think.
Howard Lawson