Joanna+Duffey

//Google Releases News-Reading Service// This Article was writen by Miguel Helft and was published on September 14, 2009. The purpose of this message is to inform people that Google is coming out with a new way of viewing news on the computer. Reading newspapers and magazines online can be slow due to all of the different ads that have to be downloaded every time you change the page. Google has come out with Fast Flip. The ads are permanently set around the text while you can flip through a newspaper or a magazine as if it was in front of you. It seems to me that this is a step in the right direction for our news media. According to our textbook “newspaper readership in the United States is least prevalent among young people.” (Baran, 108) This will be a new way to entice young people to read newspapers. The article sucks you in by stating how Google is seen as an enemy by many companies in the news industry, but are making an attempt to be seen as a friend. Immediately I am interested in why and how they are going to be seen as This represents a lifestyle that is practiced by many people today, people who get most of their information off of the web. In this attempt for Google to become “friends” with the news industry many people may believe that Google just wants to make money and get their hands more involved in the future of knowledge. Other people may see Google as a company that wants to help make it easier for consumers to read an everyday newspaper and magazines. I think this article explained very well how Fast Flip works and how it would create revenue. It fails to go into detail on how all the publishing companies feel about this, “Some of the companies said they viewed the experiment with caution.” (Helft, 1) If some companies are hesitating to go forth with this new way of reading, how is Google going to get Fast Flip started. The percentage of young people reading the newspaper is going to continue to decrease. The news industry has changed the content of the newspapers from focusing more on soft news than hard news because this is what appeals to the younger generation of readers. Allowing newspapers and magazines to be available on the web may open up the opportunity for the news industry to start focusing on news that will impact us more directly as opposed to which famous couple just broke up. [|How to download Google Books]

Reference List: Baran, Stanley J. //Introduction to Mass Communications.// Sixth edition. Helft, Miguel. //Google Releases News-Reading Service.// __New York Times.__ Sep. 14, 2009.