The 24 hour news REcycle needs information to feed the machine it created.  If there is no news, then the machine requires that the hosts “dig deeper” to create news or to raise ancillary issues to the level of important news.  Michael Jackson and Jon and Kate are not as important as (although they are very important to those who love them) news items as are the recent North Korean alleged shipment of arms to Myanmar, the election issues in Iran, the health care bill, the economy and about ten other issues that have fallen into the news black hole.

True, the newspapers are not necessarily heroic purveyors of important information  — they were complacent about the Iraq war.

But the pressures of a 24-hour newsday does not encourage in-depth journalism.  Just because a headline ran over cable the night before doesn’t mean that the news is stale the next day.  Headlines do not contain all of the information one needs to know.  News is not like an iPod or a Nintendo game — good until the next version comes out.  A news story evolves as people and movements weigh in and complicate the issues.

I prefer newspapers.  I prefer articles that have taken a week in creation.  They are more informative, more textured and better considered than the regurgitation of the same pat phrases heard on television journalism. But they are not gospel.  So, one needs to read many sources, including some representing the opposite side of one’s general political leanings.

If independent newspapers become obsolete, the free flow of information will be drastically curtailed in our society and that is a threat to our freedoms and liberty.  And if it happens, I will get my news from Jon Stewart.