It's not that newspaper people aren't smart (as a former one, I'd never make that charge), it's that they are arrogant, at least on the news/editorial side.
The very thought that their paper would be opened up to criticism / corrections just wouldn't fly. The editorial writers and columnists who write for newspapers thrive on their one-way communication. They want a soapbox, not a dialogue.
And most news writers are so sloppy in their reporting, the endless stream of minor corrections (misidentifying neighborhoods, etc.) would be an embarassment for the paper.
My final point - of course a local newspaper should write local stories, but doing so and leaving out the important news of the world would make them feel less significant.
Egos drive the newsrooms in the print world.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not that newspaper people aren't smart (as a former one, I'd never make that charge), it's that they are arrogant, at least on the news/editorial side. The very thought that their paper would be opened up to criticism / corrections just wouldn't fly. The editorial writers and columnists who write for newspapers thrive on their one-way communication. They want a soapbox, not a dialogue. And most news writers are so sloppy in their reporting, the endless stream of minor corrections (misidentifying neighborhoods, etc.) would be an embarassment for the paper. My final point - of course a local newspaper should write local stories, but doing so and leaving out the important news of the world would make them feel less significant. Egos drive the newsrooms in the print world.