By Kaylie Horrer

Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD – Today, people have all the information they want at the tip of their fingers.

Who needs a subscription to a newspaper or magazine? Technology has made traditional media, such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and other print marketing, obsolete.

This declining of traditional media has caused negative effects on those seeking jobs in the media and those depending on the media for political news.

“With the decline of traditional media, there has been a great turn over in jobs. A lot of the layoffs get highlighted,” said Tim McKenzie, assistant professor of journalism.

Advertising has dropped significantly since the recession hit U.S. markets in 2008. In 2008 and 2009, media saw the largest drop in staff in a 12-month period, and unfortunately, this has not slowed down. Between 2007 and 2010, 13,500 newspaper journalists lost their jobs, cutting newsroom staffs by 25 percent.

“(A decrease in jobs) is a concern, but people still want and need news,” McKenzie said. “What we are finding, people are getting the news from other venues. There are more online, social media and other media jobs.”

While there are other sources for news, some worry about the quality of the news given the variety of sources.

“With the growing fragmentation of the media, people pay less attention to politics today than they used to,” said Anthony DiMaggio, professor of political science at Lincoln Land. “With less attention to the news, people are less informed about the world around them. And if people are less informed, it makes it harder to hold political leaders accountable. In short, the problem is that the quality of our democracy is not very good, because people don’t know enough about how the political process works.”

Right now, the media is in transition, but some see hope for the future as it adjusts.

“I think that there is a negative impression of the industry, but the reality is the number of jobs is increasing slightly,” McKenzie said. “The opportunities are there, but were there are and how to build a career is not clear.”

Kaylie Horrer can be reached at [email protected].