How Technology Is Changing The Postal Service

The typical way households get their news is by walking straight out the door to pick the daily newspaper. However, this is slowly fading away as many, pick up their smartphones before their eyes are even fully open, granting access to the whole world. With one touch we are able to find out what’s happening on the other side of the world. We no longer have to search through papers as everything can be found on social media, or online news platforms. Indeed, technology changes our understanding of the way things work and changes how we interact with one another. However, at the same time it has adversely affected the traditional social institutions. Industries like the newspapers, the Postal Service and even the local libraries depend upon
people relaying and receiving information. Many people have lost their livelihoods and careers as companies within these industries have downsized due to the impact of modern technology. As technology grows, the newspaper industry is congenitally worried about its future and is trying its best to adapt to the modern era. Modern technology has undoubtedly made our lives easier; we no longer have to wait for letters to come in the mail, and we can contact anyone within minutes. The biggest benefit of technology is how easy it has made it for us to communicate and express our thoughts. This convenience has affected the newspaper industry as even some of the bestselling newspapers and magazines are abandoning print simply because the amount of people who actually buy it is decreasing. The biggest revenue factor for newspapers is advertisements. However, advertisers are rushing towards the internet. In fact many individuals have become millionaires by ad revenues simply by creating content on YouTube. This just goes to show how technology has is slowly changing all aspects of daily living. It is no surprise that many news organizations will no longer exist in the near future. The world we all live in is bound to change, newspaper were so popular almost thirty years ago, and they still are but just not in the original form. Speaking from personal experience While it's true that fewer newspapers roll off the presses than a generation ago, it’s also factual that only half as many people watch the nightly news network as did twenty five years ago. The Internet has largely replaced the immediacy of radio and television for breaking news. Blogs of every conceivable perspective offer free opinions and deep analysis of everything happening around us. Although technology is enhancing all of our lives it’s ruing others. According to the article, “As the Internet Grows Up, the News Industry Is Forever Changed”, Patricia Sullivan states, “Newsrooms shrunk by layoffs and battered by bloggers, are seeing their traditional audiences shrink. Daily newspapers lost 1.2 million readers in the six months that ended in March, down to 45.5 million. Online newspaper readership grew to 56 million.” This statement itself shows how the readers are departing from the traditional way of obtaining news. The industry is losing readers by millions, which not only affects their revenue, but also the careers of those who are truly passionate about reporting news and writing in general. According to the article “How Internet Affects the Newspaper Business”, C. Taylor addresses the dramatic decreases in advertisement revenue, many newspapers have been forced to cut costs. He states, “Between 2001 and 2009, daily newspapers reduced overall newsroom staff by 25 percent. Although undesirable from an economic position, this has also restricted the newspapers' breadth of coverage, potentially leading to an under-reporting of important news. With radio and television news broadcasts piggybacking on newspaper reporting, this affects non print news media as well.” Individuals in the news industry are being affected greatly, many are losing jobs and those that are still employed are going to work every day with the risk of one day not having a job. The decline of newspapers has been widely debated as the industry has faced down soaring newsprint prices, deprecation in ad sales, and the loss of advertising drops in circulation. In recent years the number of newspapers heading for closure, bankruptcy or severe cutbacks have risen. Showing the negative impacts of technology on the industry Along with the newspaper industry, the United States Postal Service and local libraries are also being affected. The U.S. Postal Service has been struggling for a while and continues to lose more customers each year. Much like the free news found on the internet and social media sites, the mail system has also been failing due to email and other forms of electronic communications. The rise of smartphones cater to increased use of email and social media, not to mention text messaging, and even phone calls. The main objective is to communicate with one another and that has gotten easier because communication is always as close at hand via smartphone. The new era of communication is cheaper and more efficient. The article “Technology threatens U.S. Postal Service”, by Christian Moises states, “the United States Postal Service has lost $8.5 billion in 2010 and has cut nearly 200,000 workers in the past decade. It continues to shutter facilities throughout the country to save money.” It’s no surprise that advances in technology are causing the Postal Service to suffer. People are still sending and receiving letters, but not as many. Individuals don’t have to wait every day for the mailman to arrive, instead seeing a notification pop up from their inbox is what they are most anxious about. Another article that shows the decline of physical mail is “Is Email Killing the Post Office?” by Chris Crum, which states, “According to the report, first-class mail, which the USPS gets the majority of its money from, has been steadily declining, and in 2005 fell below junk mail for the first time. Total mail volume has decreased 20% just from 2006 to 2010. The USPS hasn't been able to cover its annual budget in three years.” This just goes to show that the Postal Service is suffering greatly; as time progresses, mail volume is decreasing. Along with the newspaper industry and Postal Service the local libraries are also undergoing a change. Many people today expect to be able to find and access information from wherever they are. Individuals no longer have to go to libraries to find books because they have online access to e-books, audio books, research databases and archives. The archive from “American Library Association” states, “Overall, funding for public libraries continues to be suppressed in 2011–2012 budgets, with 5 % more states reporting decreased state funding for public libraries than in 2010–2011. The cumulative impact of cuts to public library funding at the state and local levels since 2008–2009 has led public libraries to continuous budget-rebalancing and tough choices regarding continuity of services”. Libraries were popular in a time there was no advanced communication and informational technology. Although technology has affected the newspaper industry in a negative way, they are still many pathways that can lead industries to coexist with new technology and not become extinct. Individuals today want the shortcut in every aspect. Majority of the people argue that news articles should be cut in length and should state the main point. The newspaper industry has made considerable changes overtime by shortening stories and increasing their use of social media. In a recent interview with Content Director, Gail Lubin from Staten Island Advance revealed that she believes the news has changed extremely. The adoption of internet based technologies has built an expectation that news will be delivered in real time. Moving towards the subject of careers of those in the news industries Lubin states, “We have adapted by reinventing ourselves. We have staff who are experts in social media, we have videographers, and we have analysts who study readership and audience data. Much of our strategy focuses on reaching new audiences online. Without these changes we could not survive in the digital news landscape.” This shows that newspapers industries can surely survive by adapting new methods that cater to their current readers. For upcoming journalism students Lubin advises them to think about journalism as storytelling, she believes that future and current journalist should create virtual reality stories, instead of long boring articles. Along with the newspaper industry the Postal Service is also adapting to new changes.
The Postal Service is working to transform with technology. Shrinking workforce, changing its delivery schedules and its operations are vital in achieving higher efficiencies. According to the article “How Technology Is Changing the USPS”, John Edgar states, “Beginning this month, the Postal Service is piloting the use of tablet-based retailing to Post Offices, reducing lines and speeding basic services. In the future, smart mobile post offices hosted on phones and tablets could help mail carriers and consumers transact Postal services “on the go.” Someday Postal carriers could potentially provide full “door step” package services like home pickup, on the spot shipping calculation and payment, tracking and “electronic” delivery in a fully paperless environment using automated USPS delivery vehicles.” By increasing efficiency USPS could possibly bring back customers, allowing individuals to complete transactions through their smart phones will result in a benefit for both USPS and its
consumers. On the other hand libraries have also revamped their entire system.
According to the article “How Innovation and Technology Are Shaping Libraries of Today”, Frankie Rendón States, “. With the help of innovation, re-imagination and vision, libraries are embracing new technologies while creating dynamic community centers filled with life. They are no longer a house of dusty books and card files; they are centers of creativity, research and collaboration...and they are free.” By increasing the use of computers as well as mobile and online access has totally changed many libraries making them more appealing and technology friendly. Allowing GPS apps that help locate material, mobile apps that allow patrons to access library services and book delivery robots are all initiatives to help keep libraries operating. The quote “We are the children of a technological age. We have found streamlined ways of doing much of our routine work. Printing is no longer the only way of reproducing books. Reading them, however, has not changed. By Lawrence Clark Powell says it all. Technology has become a huge part of people’s lives. Smart phones, iPads and computers are somewhat considered necessary for survival. Although so much has changed reading is still alive. Sure not many people buy a newspaper, but they still read online and are aware of what’s going on around them. The purpose still remains the same to communicate, understand and rationalize although we don’t check out books anymore or often
mail letters. We are still accomplishing the same goals simply through the digital world.