Newspapers

Reading newspapers today suddenly makes me remember the title of MUET speaking: newspapers play many roles in our lives. Which do you think is the biggest role? 

Undeniably, newspapers is indeed part of our lives, and the role it plays is huge and cannot be dismissed. The most sold newspapers in Malaysia would probably be Utusan Melayu  (the newspaper I shall endeavour not to curse today), followed by The Star, another newspapers I will try my best no to lambaste. I don't know which Chinese newspapers is the most popular, but I've been a fan of Kwong Wah because my mother supported me and because I grow up reading it, reading other newspapers is simply alien to me.

The first role it gave was reporting current events. Historically, newspapers were not distributed to report current events. But that, of course, depends on how you define 'newspapers'. The first widely circulated news sheets, according to Wikipedia, was meant to convey political messages and not report news. This, however, stirred some debate over whether that news sheets are considered 'newspapers' since its definition doesn't appear to fit well. 

Let's focus on what happens in this era. Newspapers are circulated principally to report current issues. Just look at the front page, what do you read? If the biggest printing on the newspapers you're holding is about celebrities gossips or advertisements, it's very likely you've picked a magazine or an advert. But I'm pretty sure most people are not too dumb to be unable to differentiate between a newspapers and a magazine.

Whatever happens are reported in the newspapers. The difference is how much attention they get. Sometimes, newspapers can be discombobulating. A seemingly infinitesimal case or a tragic death of a not-known stranger could be printed on the front page. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mean that their deaths or any burglaries do not deserve to be mourned, but I'm quite sure there are major concerns that involve more parties and these should get more attentions. Let's say...unexplained food poisoning among school children? Shouldn't these cases get more attention than a death of a total stranger since the source of the poison is most likely unidentified and anyone could still be a victim?

Okay. I got carried away. Let's get back to the role: reporting current events. Newspapers report happenings that are going on all around the world, including the universe and places unexplored, obviously, with issues on the galaxies and planets being constantly reported. Of course, the newspapers would focus on events happening within the country of its publication. Why wouldn't you? You can't blame them anyway, they can't station a journalist/reporter in the corners of the Earth and expect them to flee to places where explosions go off randomly or the dirty secrets are hidden. Issues like new plans or government transformation are usually the priority and printed in the front page, with issues considered mild or news considered worthless are printed together with more eye-catching advertisements.

But thanks to the invention of the newspapers, we move on as civilisation progresses. Newspapers remind us on the impact of some horrible mistakes to the victims and it is a message for the readers not to repeat the history. The war between US and Iraq have caused unforeseen and unimaginable psychological, infrastructure and geographical damages. When global recession, or economic tsunami, attacks, newspapers take on the mantle to deliver the latest updates - which country is affected the worst or which has faced insolvency. Magazines couldn't publish issues on these because magazines are generally much more expensive and they are not published daily. Hence, newspapers is still the best means to get updated information.

So what's the second role it's said to play? Imparting knowledge. Ya, it's true. A newspaper is not solely distributed mainly to announce any latest changes. There are articles they are extremely beneficial, if a little misleading, to the readers. Latest discoveries on certain issues like health and environment could be reported immediately. For instance, if cigarette is scientifically proved to be damaging to the body, then readers should thread carefully the next time they attempt to take a smoke. However, because the journalists/reporters who report the issues are generally laymen, interpretation of certain knowledge might be inevitably twisted due to insufficient knowledge and ergo the articles he writes becomes disturbingly misleading. Scientists agree that newspapers is not a reliable source of medical reference, but besides newspapers, what else can a person turn to? 

Articles written by educationists, on the other hand, would decidedly benefit the students. It doesn't matter whether the knowledge you impart suit the readers or not, but as long as it is factually correct, there should be no harm publishing it. 

The third role it plays would be improving language proficiency. Does it? Ya, it does. Newspapers is how I improved my language, but I won't say it's the most important role it plays anyway. Newspapers printed in any languages would only use formal language. You can't find a Manglish newspaper out there. (If you find one, tell me!) If it's a Malay paper, the language used must be pristine and grammatically correct. The problem in Malaysia is that newspapers often use languages that somehow got entangled with other languages, causing interference of languages. Malay being the worst - there are many borrowed words. Chinese isn't any better either because there are too many local slang.

However, if it's written nicely and grammatically, newspaper is an awesome source for learning languages. Firstly, it's cheap. Secondly, there are abundant of articles for you to peruse. Thirdly, the tone of the writing is usually soft and conversational to engage the readers by making them feeling absorbed. So, you don't usually get bored reading the articles. If you loathe it, skip it. Simple. Journalists would sometimes use bombastic words and highfalutin languages to reflect their language proficiency, so on the bright side, you would have a perfect opportunity to learn the language; on the dark side, you'll probably not understand the gist of the articles.

If you wanna use newspapers as a source to improve your language proficiency, make sure to bring along a dictionary. Sometimes, newspapers can be very annoying.

The fourth role it plays is advertising. Factually, it isn't; but newspapers is mostly covered by advertisements. Flip through the newspapers, and you'll find so many advertisements you thought you are buying a book of advertisements with news being the decorations. The problem is, how many people bother about these advertisements? Without huge printing and wonderful illustrations, you'll never catch the attention of the readers. But that's the big deal - newspapers allow them to advertise the way they want, at a price, and they satisfy them at the expense of the readers. The preponderance  of advertisements is very annoying to me.

There are still many roles a newspaper plays. Gossip, for instance. They love to pry into the lives of each celebrities and dig out all dirty secrets they try to hide. Even the death of a celebrated singer attracted more paparazzi than the visit of Barack Obama to China. Horoscope are published for readers who believe them. Opinions columns, created for people to opine on issues that really doesn't concern them, and if it does concern them they make it personal and talk rubbish. Obituaries for the family to mourn the deaths. Movie reviews for readers to understand how a person receives a movie. Cartoons and caricatures either for entertainments and libel.

Newspapers play a lot of roles. I wouldn't underestimate the roles they play, but I definitely do not like all of them.