Disruptive technology is the term used to describe how new technology can cause an old method or manner of doing business to become obsolete. The Deseret News announced that 43% of its staff would be laid off, and they would close their existing newsroom and combine with KSL, creating a hybrid newspaper, radio and TV business.
The reason is obvious: the traditional newspaper format is dying due to the Internet. Besides the disruption technology has on the marketplace and media, it can also have a disruptive effect in classrooms. We have three articles in this issue that deal with how disruptive technology is changing learning, books, and the media.
In the past 10 years, there has been a paradigm shift in media as the information age has begun to take root and mature. Media giants such as NBC out of Rockefeller Plaza in New York are now competing to be number one on Google with Bob’s blog that he writes in his basement in his pajamas. Information has been democratized.
Unfortunately most web traffic and news reporting has little to do with accuracy or insight and far more to do with sensationalization and entertainment.
Case-in-point: a Pastor in Gainsville, Florida received a phone call from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan because he’s disturbing the peace. The story behind the story: This wouldn’t have been an issue if the media would stop pointing their cameras at idiots.