Parchment, Gutenberg and now social media

In the middle part of the 14th century, Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith by trade, began work on what became the printing press with movable type, thus opening up new horizons of knowledge for common men and women. The advent of large-scale paper mills at this time also helped and books became more readily available, leading, by most theories, to the end of the dark ages and the advance of the Renaissance and the launch of the Age of Discovery, the enlightenment, the dawn of the American experiment, the industrial revolution and the information age.

That’s a quick recap, are you still with me? After the printing press was discovered, there was a fear it would be used to spread misinformation. Sound familiar? It’s what happens when there is a tremendous advance. It takes a while for everyone to catch up. It was like that in the golden era of newspapers when cities had dozens of publications of various qualities, perspectives and interests. Readers had to discern the source of information and it was easy to get trapped into a world view that largely mirrored one’s own. Does that also sound familiar?

It took a few centuries, but the printing press did away with the town crier. No one wept at that loss, aside from maybe those who found employment on the basis of the loudness of their voice. With the advent of radio, it was believed that newspapers would be gone within decades. While that did not happen, television was supposed to dispatch both radio and newspapers. When that did not happen, the internet was supposed to be the death knell for newspapers. It certainly caused the atomization of the industry, and a severe shift that we are still seeing through. But the death knell? No.

Just as we moved from papyrus to parchment to print, the news industry is shifting once again into the digital era. While one can say that the days of print may be numbered, the days of trusted news sources are not. It is unfortunate that the print media did not invent social media, because I think it would have been better. But too many industry leaders were caught flat-footed enjoying their lack of competition and large revenue to see what was coming next.

But here we are at the precipice of another era in which the transference of information is immediate and sometimes incomplete. There is a chance that misinformation is part of that equation, but there will always be those interested in conveying accurate information and responding to community concerns and ideas in a responsible way. Digital archives are also convenient as hell for those looking into recent history. One can be brought up to speed relatively quickly on an issue without having to spend time digging through physical archives.

What media or news will look like in 100 years, it is difficult to tell. You might as well ask the town crier. But as long as people actually seek the truth, there will be those who are willing and able to deliver it.

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With that, I will leave you for a couple of months. I’m not taking a vacation, but rather getting into the thick of election season and all that entails. With state law requiring the moving of many races to either the gubernatorial or presidential election to increase turnout, there are more races for us to consider in our coverage and our endorsements. We will start pumping them out next week, starting with school boards. I’ve counted more than 30 total races and measures, and we will see just how many we actually got to by Nov. 6. Until then ...

Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com.