Marisa Coulter

WRD 104

Print and Digital Unite

One can pose countless arguments about what makes the print and digital version of The New York Times better than the other, but it is apparent one should cut this debate out entirely. Both the print and digital versions of The New York Times provide different beneficial 

experiences to a news reader. Thus, it is important to embrace the print and digital world of the periodical as a part of everyday life. Where the print version of the daily paper can provide a sense of serendipity and visual credibility, the digital version can deliver not only the same news stories, but breaking news stories as they unfold in real time.

“Serendipity is a historian's best friend and the biggest part of the rush that is the daily magic of discovery,” (McKeen). This being said, serendipity is an asset that the printed version of The New York Times possesses. The printed version of the paper allows a reader to delve into that days edition and be surprised at every turn of the page. Because a reader is not simply putting the topic of an article in a search bar to see what pops up, one will find what one could constitute an, “...unexpected discover[y] by accident,” (Serendipity). It is these serendipitous unexpected discoveries that make the printed works of newspapers important. Someone reading a printed copy of the paper that, for example, is normally uninterested in travel may flip through the pages of The New York Times and find an article that integrates his or her love of business into an article nestled in the back of the Travel section. Without physically sifting through the pages of a tangible newspaper, one may never find an article or story that may interest them by typing in topics in a search engine to acquire their news. It is the unexpectedness and mystery that guides us to take new turns in life, and similarly it is this same serendipity that can guide us in a surprising direction when partaking in the reading of the printed word.

In a world where there are more people with cell phones than flushing toilets, there is another unique aspect to the printed version of The New York Times that is much more cosmetic (Worstall). Since there are so many people around us checking their phones for news and current articles, reading the printed version of The New York Times can set one apart. A teenager, for example, reading a printed copy of the newspaper in public evokes a much different connotation than that of a similar teen reading the news on his or her phone. 

With seventy-eight percent of teens wielding cell phones, almost half of which owning a smartphone, it is common for an innocent teen reading the news on his or her phone to be mistaken as technology dependent responding to a text message (Madden). As unfair as it may be for people of all ages, reading a printed copy of The New York Times portrays a more issue conscious individual than one reading the news on a cellular device.

Readership of the news is imperative for our society to stay informed. In this respect, it is just as vital to remember that in order to keep our society as informed and up to date as possible papers such as The New York Times can not be successful with simply one medium. As important as print is in experiencing serendipity of the news, 

receiving notifications and current news on apps, social media sites, and The New York Times webpage is just as critical. Although the printed version of the news is a great way to keep up with affairs domestic and overseas, it is the web-based digital version of the times that can keep a reader informed of breaking news as soon as a story unfolds. Even through social media outlets periodicals are able to quickly relay news back to their publics. A prime example of this is a topic that is still currently circulating in the news. The New York Times used their Twitter account as a means to break the news of the Boston Marathon bombings and to keep the masses up to speed with the developments of the breaking news story. Being able to relay information, such as this, to the public via social media is a great tactic that can access individuals that may not possess The New York Times app or a smartphone in general. Besides breaking news, The Times has been been able to acclimate to the rapid changes in technology and find ways to make the news easily accessible to readers via the web.

Socially, people grasp at connections that they can make with another individual to strengthen an interaction. When taking into account that in in this way reading the newspaper is a social act, one finds that both the printed and digital version of the paper can be important in one's interactions with another. The newspaper can constitute a social act because of the conversation, debate, and discussion that can arise between individuals after reading a particular article. In this way it is apparent that, on the social level, the medium in which one is reading one's news does not matter. What matters is the that a reader can acquire and retain the news that the paper provides in order to use the news stories as a basis to interact with others.

There is no true winner in the race between print and digital newspapers. Each are both important to uphold and continue to utilize when informing oneself about the news. Society must realize that one does not have to make the choice of simply reading one medium over the other. One can reap the benefits of both the print and digital version of The Times. Nothing compares to the organic serendipity one finds when flipping page by page of the printed Times. Similarly, nothing keeps one as up to date on breaking news as the digital outlets that The Times makes easily accessible. This being said, it is evident one would benefit the most by taking advantage of all mediums of the newspaper: print and digital. Between experiencing serendipity and accessing hard-hitting news almost instantly after it occurs, one realizes that in order to make the most out of a newspaper experience one must take advantage of both the print and digital versions of a publication like The New York Times.

McKeen, William. "Serendipity." The New York Times. The New York Times, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013.

 "Serendipity." Oxford English Dictionary. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

 Worstall, Tim. "More People Have Mobile Phones Than Toilets." Forbes. Forbes, Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Madden, Mary, Amanda Lenhart, Maeve Duggan, Sandra Cortesi, and Urs Gasser. "Teens and Technology 2013." Pew Internet. N.p., Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.