Before that writer for the New York Times got his news from print sources for 2 months there was me. I have gotten my news from print sources such as newspapers for as long as I can remember. I rarely look at news online—if I do, it involves finding out more about a specific story. Looking at print news has a lot of benefits, but since I have never explored online news I guess I do not know what I miss.
Among the myriad benefits of reading print news includes the greater clarity it gives to the world. In a newspaper, everything flows from super important national stories to smaller stories that impact our lives less. As my log shows, I like to read the L.A Times, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times a lot. I try to read as broadly as possible about sports, politics, and arts.
One of my fears—one could say—about online news involves not reading widely about big national stories and instead getting sucked into opinion rabbit holes about very specific things. In other words, why strive for knowledge in just one topic when you can know about everything? Reading newspapers encourages one to read about everything.
Although print news and online news differs in the scope of events they cover, both present the challenge that one could keep hearing the same feedback over and over again. For example, no matter if one consistently reads the print edition of the Wall Street Journal or they scroll through CNN.com every day, they will still probably only see one side of the story. Even if one does not even read the editorials, they still could likely find themselves gathering the same facts over and over again to produce the same story. Perhaps human error plays a part in this knowledge gap because journalists have inherent biases too.
From what others say about social media and online news gathering, I imagine the echo-chambers effect becomes exacerbated. Reading the same thing over and over from a professional journalist is one thing but scrolling through the same partisan takes by people close to you can has a more powerful, negative effect. With the power of always having a voice on social media comes great responsibility.
To conclude, I believe looking at print has its advantages and looking at digital news has its advantages. I prefer to look mostly at print simply because I want to make sure I read widely and do not get sucked down a rabbit hole of one specific topic I like. As a citizen of the United States, I like to keep informed politically. I also like to read about sports. By reading the New York Times and L.A Times, I can also read about things like the arts which I would previously not have been exposed to. Typing a few words into a browser and scrolling through the economy of hot takes does not count as exploring the world— while reading does.
Aidan's Blog 