can you help me understand this paragraph please?

while print retains much of its authority as a source of tropical information, television has increasingly usurped this role. the ability to write fluent letters has been undermined by the telephone, and research suggests that for many people the only use of writing, outside formal education, is the compilation of shopping lists.

it's saying people are starting to get more info from t.v. than from newspapers and other print media (and i think they mean "topical", not "tropical.") and they're saying that people no longer write letters, because making a phone call is so much easier. in fact, they believe that writing has little use in today's world.

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