Future-Proofing the News: Preserving the First Draft of History

ISBN-10: 1442267143
ISBN-13: 9781442267145
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Pages: 274
Language: English
Published: 2017-01-26
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Authors: Kathleen A. Hansen, Nora Paul

Description

News coverage is often described as the “first draft of history.” From the publication in 1690 of the first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences, to the latest tweet, news has been disseminated to inform its audience about what is going on in the world. But the preservation of news content has had its technological, legal, and organizational challenges. Over the centuries, as new means of finding, producing, and distributing news were developed, the methods used to ensure future generations’ access changed, and new challenges for news content preservation arose. This book covers the history of news preservation (or lack thereof), the decisions that helped ensure (or doom) its preservation, and the unique preservation issues that each new form of media brought. All but one copy of Publick Occurrences were destroyed by decree. The wood-pulp based newsprint used for later newspapers crumbled to dust. Early microfilm disintegrates to acid and decades of microfilmed newspapers have already dissolved in their storage drawers. Early radio and television newscasts were rarely captured and when they were, the technological formats for accessing the tapes are long superseded. Sounds and images stored on audio and videotapes fade and become unreadable. The early years of web publication by news organizations were lost by changes in publishing platforms and a false security that everything on the Internet lives forever. In 50 or 100 years, what will we be able to retrieve from today’s news output? How will we tell the story of this time and place? Will we have better access to news produced in 1816 than news produced in 2016? These are some of the questions Future-Proofing the News aims to answer.

Get the book

Similar books

Future Proofing You: Twelve Truths for Creating Opportunity, Maximizing Wealth, and Controlling your Destiny in an Uncertain World
By Jay Samit
Jay Samit wants you to make a difference! This is a true roadmap for changing your life in one year so you’ll never have to worry about getting another job.” —Lori Schwartz, Governor, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Future-Proofing Your Business: Real Life Strategies to Prepare Your Business for Tomorrow, Today
By Troy Hazard
Praise for FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR BUSINESS "This fast-moving book is loaded with wisdom andfull of practical techniques to thrive in any economy." —Brian Tracy, author of The Way to Wealth "In a world of more, faster, now, Troy can teach ...
Future Proof Yourself: How to keep yourself employable for the rest of your working career
By David Yeabsley
Are you worth it? Of course you are! You are your greatest asset and investment. Welcome to Future Proofing Yourself. This book is for everyone.
Dynamic Future-Proofing: Integrating Disruption in Everyday Business
By Alexander Manu
Recognising that companies which respond to disruptions in the early stages of amplification can convert potentially existential threats into transformative opportunities, this book shows us how good leadership, intelligent informed opinion ...
Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow's Workplace
By Karie Willyerd, Barbara Mistick
At the heart of this book is a simple truth: the secret to thriving at work and in life lies in your hands.
How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results
By Esther Wojcicki
Above all, let your child lead. How to Raise Successful People offers essential lessons for raising, educating, and managing people to their highest potential. Change your parenting, change the world.
Kill It with Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones)
By Marianne Bellotti
This book offers a far more forgiving modernization framework, laying out smart value-add strategies and proven techniques that work equally well for ancient systems and brand-new ones.
Young People and the Future of News: Social Media and the Rise of Connective Journalism
By Lynn Schofield Clark, Regina Marchi
Robert Boyer argued that stability occurred in the early years of industrialization (1850–1930) because businesses invested their profits back into the business and made high productivity gains, and in the later years (1930s–1970) ...
Leadership for the Future: Lessons from the Past, Current Approaches, and Future Insights
By Thomas Mengel
This volume explores various approaches to leadership from both the past and the present, critically analysing these in the light of possible future challenges and scenarios.
Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
By Kevin Roose
In Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out a hopeful, pragmatic vision for how we can thrive in the age of AI and automation.