The Durham Chronicles— the Times They are a Changing

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:59 pm by Ben Witherington

The Durham Chronicles— the Times They are a Changing 2015-03-13T22:59:25-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I was sitting in the lobby of John’s College reading the Times, not to be confused with the NY Times. No, this is just the Times. But even that Times has been changing. There are two immediately noticeable changes: 1) the format has gone magazine style on some days, and 2) there are actually color pictures and color graphics instead of just endless black and white words– (shock—- what is the world coming to?) The picture above gives you a sense of the transitional phase, but the picture below shows you what you find most of the time today,

As you will probably know, the print media has been taking a beating for a while, thanks to people now getting their news mostly online. Like the record industry, and like the book industry, printed newspapers seem to be an endangered species. And no one would have guessed that the harbinger of all this would be the glitzy U.S. Today. When that newspaper first came out, it was a bit of a novelty. People of course liked the pictures and charts and colorfulness of it, but the articles were often too insubstantial, too short and sweet, too simplified, and so the conventional wisdom was that it would come and go like other experiments. What those sages had not realized is that we are now in the era of the visual learner, the computer generation on steroids. As such more visual, more pictorial, more visually stimulating, was the wave of the future even for hardcore news in print. You know the world is changing when even the Times has to adjust to keep up with the times….. It remains to be seen whether by the end of this century no one will be reading printed newspapers. They will have all gone the way of digitalization and will be read only on computers, tablets, Kindles, phones etc.

Doubtless there are some trees glad to hear of this eventuality, but not some lumberjacks, or paper companies. What was it Bobby Dylan said…..

Gather ’round people Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters Around you have grown
And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
Keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
Don’t speak too soon For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they, they are a-changin’

Come senators, Congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t block at the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside And it’s ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
Don’t criticize What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is Rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend a hand
For your times they are a-changin’

The line it is drawn
And the curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is Rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 9, 2013

The Rankin Files--- the Award Winning Black and Blue

Next Post

June 11, 2013 Worcester Cathedral----The Inside View

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz