The Times they are changing

20 juni 2011

There was a time, not so long ago, when you could pick up the morning newspaper and read what had happened in the world in the past 24 hours. Newspapers were important for our view of the world. Nowadays you are instantly and continuously informed of news through media on the Internet and social media such as Twitter. So is there still a future for newspapers? How one of the major newspapers in the world deals with this new reality can be seen in the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times, premiered worldwide in June. For one year, at a time when developments in the media industry came very quickly, the filmmakers had unlimited access to the editors of New York Times. Advents such as the iPad or Wikileaks have turned the media upside down. "Wikileaks doesn’t need us", sighs an employee of the newspaper in the documentary. Previously they would have dumped a pile of papers on the pavement in front of the New York Times offices. Today they publish their findings directly to the Internet. No one really seems to know what the future will bring for newspapers, but it’s an inspiring business, that's for sure. Hollywood already seems to have plans to screen Page One.