NEWSPRINT VS ONLINE

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. - ONE DAY AT A TIME - Before I begin this column I like to disclose the fact that The Central Newspaper was one of two companies that brought internet to Durham Region back 25 years ago. When internet was nothing but a beep on a phone line. Back then, not Bell nor Rogers was interested in the technology. Bell was the only that made the internet available as they had the cable infrastructure to carry the signal. In those days it was reserved for Universities, government and some financial institutions. Very limited in use. The internet in it’s pure form is and was a freeware system with no regulation and or government interference. Ever since then. The government has been looking at ways of regulating and controlling it. Ways to tax users. So far they failed dramatically, until recently. When the government in the interest of protecting Canadian content on some system... actually hurt the industry as internet companies shut the door to Canadian content online. Newspaper panicked, not understanding the internet and it’s protocols and now the government has gained a foot on the door of the internet. Back 25 years ago - The Central was was the first newspaper to publish online across the planet. Yes, right from Oshawa. We made world first. As a matter of fact right out of Oshawa DURHAM CITY CENTRAL RADIO THE WAVE was founded. The very first radio transmission online. Right from Oshawa. This was before YouTube, and most of the modern day browsers. If anything The Central is an expert in internet technologies. Since the days of the internet being nothing but a beep on a phone wire. The internet has come a long way. The first demise was the introduction of search engines. Search engines brought about commercialization. This was the beginning of the end. From search engines came chats. First one that became popular was ICQ. I remember receiving request for the radio transmission from all over the world. I think the final demise of the internet came about when Facebook and the likes entered the arena. The huge popularity and the use of the internet as a weapon instead of a tool took off. The internet once a place of mutual respect and trust. Has been turned upside down. A place for scammer, thieves, to thrive. For government to covertly monitor people, groups and other governments. As a news media person. The internet has tarnished the good name of journalism as anyone now can deem themselves a journalist. Reader today don’t trust what they read... this is why many are going back to local newsprint. Today, not everyone can afford the internet or a computer. Senior and those that are not tech savvy will never go online. The internet is limited and targeted to a group that is damaging the longevity of the net. Online, advertisement is cheap. As the results are minimal and controlled. I always tell my customers. If you are getting results online. You are missing 80% of your clients. Newsprint is making a come back like never before.