It Revolutionizes It

When the iPad came out, I struggled to see why everyone was calling it "revolutionary."

When I asked a few of the 15 million iPad owners, the best answer I heard was, "It revolutionizes it."

(Check out Jake and Amir's video about the iPad):

While I am still not completely sold that one day the iPad will replace laptops, apps like The Daily, Pulse and Flipboard have allowed me to see the tremendous power the iPad has to revolutionize the way people consume their news.

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation, recently revealed his newest business venture - The Daily - the first iPad only daily news publication.

Here's a quote from a press release on The Daily's website:

"The Daily is a first-of-its-kind daily national news publication built exclusively as an application for tablet computing.  It provides readers the engaging experience of a magazine combined with the immediacy of the web and the need-to-know content of a newspaper, all while elevating user experience beyond the printed word." 

Having only checked out The Daily once or twice, I cannot say that I was personally impressed with the actual product, however, I do believe that it has the potential to change both print and online news publications.  The Daily offers everything a regular paper does (news, sports, celebrity gossip, opinion, arts and life, and so on).  However, unlike most newspapers, which tend to sport a specific political preference, The Daily offers opinion pieces from all sides of the political spectrum.  Offering multiple viewpoints in a single publication is perhaps the best way to solve the issue of bias in the media.

I do not believe that "objective journalism" is possible.  It is simply impossible and unreasonable for us to expect journalists to be able to remain completely objective. After all, they are just human.  That is why I believe that it is extremely important to read multiple viewpoints and not just read one newspaper, or watch one news channel.

However, most people do not have the time to pick up 5 different papers and read each of them and then form their own opinion.  A simple solution to this problem, is not to expect journalists to be objective, but rather we need to introduce diversity of opinions into the newsroom. By supplying people with differing beliefs on a single issue, the unrealistic struggle of remaining impartial is neutralized.  Coupled with the iPad, which allows people to both share and receive news faster than we've ever seen before, apps like The Daily which offer a variety of political viewpoints, will hopefully lead journalism in a new and more realistic direction.

While the iPad does seem to be revolutionizing the media, I am still not so sure it is as revolutionary as everyone may think...