Tape and CD players, iPods and MP3 players, newspapers, television, and the internet by means of music downloading and a source of news are all objects that modern radio is forced into competition with in order to survive. Despite the competition, radio as a whole continues to claw to life and live hand-in-hand with all the new technologies in today’s world.
Radio continues to be a useful thing in today’s world. I believe the majority of the U.S. population still listens to the radio at least on their way into work in the morning. Morning talk shows mixed in with a catchy tune here and there is a great way to deal with a morning commute. Despite having a CD player in my car, I listen to the radio much more than any of my CDs because I enjoy hearing local music events going on, and also enjoy hearing new types of music.
As radio survives via the music industry, news radio seems to be headed on the way out. Sure, we get news updates every hour or so, but radio is not the useful place for news it was decades ago. Newspapers tackle news stories with more depth than radio reports, television has the same speed to reach viewers as radio and is able to show pictures from an event or story, and the internet is the fastest way for news to break to the public. The most useful news that comes from radio is the traffic reports every 15 to 30 minutes, since most people listen to the radios in the cars.
Radio won’t die in the near future, but it is certainly not the mega power it was in the middle of the 1900s.
Jamie -- nicely crafted.
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