Talk radio, cable television, and niche publications pick up some of the slack, but they typically reach smaller audiences than did the network news programs they replace. Five years ago, it was not uncommon for three television crews and seven reporters to cover the release of a Heartland Policy Study . We appeared on the evening news and in the next morning's newspapers. Today, we often don't even hold news conferences because so few reporters show up. Newspapers today rely heavily on wire services and syndicated columnists for discussion of public policy issues.
Television news is dominated by traffic accidents, violence, and entertainment.
Heartland has responded to changes in media coverage by going around them with our own communication vehicles. Our newspapers, School Reform News and Environment News , provide the news and commentary that regular newspapers systematically ignore. On the Internet, we post the complete texts of our documents, allowing serious students to rely on us for complete information rather than merely entertaining images. We expect Internet-based systems to be a growing part of our outreach, marketing, and order fulfillment efforts. Until a computer screen is as light and inexpensive as a piece of paper, people will find occasions to prefer faxes over computer disks or CDs.