A DEFENSE FOR PRINT IN A DIGITAL AGE

vol. one issue no. 1


Words by
DANIELLE NEAL & GINNY LUNDSTROM
With the inclusion of the word media in the title of
the major "editing, writing, and media" at FSU
comes a distinction that is of utmost importance to
students in the modern digital age we live in. Where
do we draw the line as students learning writing
versus students that are learning digital design?
Does the distinction get lost in translation, or is it
commonplace that digital would drive out print?
While digital media is no doubt an important aspect
of media and writing today, it is apparent that our
society wildly overlooks the importance of print
media.
OPINION
Part of the journey of becoming "a writer" is in the
process of it all; we as students must consistently try
to immerse ourselves in the writing process and learn
more about how we write. We plan, we create, we
draft, we workshop. We breathe our pieces into
existence following a methodic process that works
for us. Perhaps the most important aspect of print
media that makes it so versatile, useful, and therefore
vital in today's world is the actual physicality of print
media.
As an Editing, Writing, and Media student at FSU,
workshopping is a vital part of our curriculum;
according to Malcom Gladwell, there is a specific
freedom that comes with a physical document (you
can shuffle pages around, mark straight through
texts, and even pass pages around a circle). This
freedom that comes with physical paper allows for a
much easier method of collaboration that otherwise
is not possible with digital documents (Gladwell).
Furthermore, a Nielsen study found that in a digital
medium, readers scan the page using an F-pattern
(Bauerlein).

While digital collaboration is indeed possible,
it is surely made difficult by the patterns of
reading that have been developed when print
is put on a screen; for example, both Nancy
Sommers and Richard Straub recommend
specific comments on student writing, but the
F pattern found by Bauerlein would complicate
this necessity. With all things considered,
moving away from print media would make the
important collaborative workshop portions of
an EWM curriculum much more difficult than it
already is.
Though digital mediums have expanded the
reach and scope of writing, there are many
disadvantages of moving to a digitally driven
mode of writing and learning. As students,
exposure to many different modes of learning
and reading engagements can greatly increase
the level of retainment and aid in the
development of personal communication
strategies. On multimodal texts, Jody Shipka
writes "there is a tendency to equate
'multimodal' or 'multimodality' with digitized,
screen mediated texts." While the inclusion of
screen mediated texts and digital accents can
, "The Social Life of Paper" by Malcom Gladwell
O P I N I O N (cont.)
be quite useful in some settings, engagement
with print media is also useful and should not
be omitted from curriculums. Furthermore,
Shipka notes that pro multimodality ways of
teaching in a sense "cuts corners"; we have
moved away from the nitty gritty work that
builds fundamental skills that come along with
being a student. Nowadays, students are able
to look up answers to test questions with such
ease, whereas searching in a book for the
answers would be much more academically
worthwhile. For this reason, the immediacy
that comes with the digital side of things is
not always better. In order to become well-
rounded students, and engage in
fundamentally stimulating collaboration and
thought processes, print media must not be
sacrificed.
for more info:
"Responding to Student Writing" by Nancy
Sommers
"Including - But Not Limited - To The Digital" by
Jody Shipka
"Online Literacy is the Lesser Kind" by Mark
Bauerlein
 2017

SPRING SEMESTER
EDITION