English 680V: Visual Rhetoric in a Technological Age (Purdue)

I do feel the need to provide you with yet another article from my inbox.: "The Prestigious Inconvenience of Print" brought to you by The Chronicle of Higher Education.* Edward Tenner, author of this article, is discussing one of academia's topical obsessions, the print vs. web/e-text debate. Not surprisingly, the print text is presented as the more distinguished form of publishing, although Tenner does give electronic texts some credit. This isn't a web=evil book=good debate. Of course, the printed text does seem to come out on top, being presented as the underdog of the web-based writing world.. For example, "As a researcher, I'm delighted that there's so much free, or usually advertising-supported, content. But as a writer, I'm concerned that outlets are declining as aspirations are rising." and "The Web is simultaneously helping to undermine some of the most socially valuable parts of conventional media." So, there is an aspect of the big bad. Tenner's concerned that newspaper readership is lower, but his numbers seem to be based on print readership. I would wager that, if online readers of newspapers' electronic versions were tabulated it would actually show an increase. Additionally, Tenner does see the mutually beneficial aspects of web and text readership. This report in the October issue of the University of Chicago Magazine-- "The more an individual uses books, the more he or she uses electronic-research resources, and vice versa." --indicates that, while electronic resources are used with increasing frequency, the book isn't going away anytime soon. Tenner is relieved.

However, it is clear throughout his article that he finds the printed text to be superior, although his article shows evidence that the opinion gap between the two has lessened. Still, he notes that: As a former acquisition editor at a publishing house, I can testify that impatient critics of the printed book are getting it wrong. Conventional print publishing is a daunting business. No matter what an organization's size, it faces challenges unknown to wikians and bloggers." I don't disagree, but I think that the way Tenner describes this difference indicates that because print text has these difficulties to deal with, it is more valuable than electronic texts. I find this particularly interesting given that Tenner discusses availability and access to resources early on in his article.

Another point of criticism leveled at writers of e-texts: "Unknown creators may dream of being discovered on the Web, but celebrities get prime placement in conventional news media." and "Few bloggers have made a living from their writing, and many of them seem to have begun with experience or connections in print publishing."

If Tenner's "unknown creators" refers to bloggers, then I'm afraid he needs to recheck his information. Bloggers are being found by publishing companies who print a streamlined and edited version of their blogs. For instance, Stephanie McPhee of yarnharlot.ca has recently published her fourth book. Riverbend of Baghdad Burning has now published two books Bloggers have drawn the interest of print publishers who want to capitalize on their online popularity, as this Dec. 2004 article in the NYTimes indicates. Granted, the number of book contracts in proportion to the number of bloggers is low, probably "point something percent," but then again, most bloggers probably don't have aspirations of becoming authors in the print world

*Actually, since I'm assuming that not everyone has access to the Chronicle, I am attaching the article as a pdf. I've included the link for those who have access and in case this particular article is freely accessible.