Consuming News with Intent
As much as I love the idea on some days, shutting myself away from the world and living in a cave is, let’s be honest, not a realistic prospect. I am a real person, with a job and a family and responsibilities, and to that end, the hermit lifestyle, as tempting as it may seem some days, is not one I can embrace any time soon. I want to stay informed, I don’t want to be overwhelmed and the question of how to best consume news and other media without my brain turning into an oversaturated, overstimulated pile of mush at the end of each day is one I frequently wrestle with.
I have used social media in the past, but not for several years now. The prospect of picking my way through thousands it not millions of tweets, posts, blogs, looking for the truth is not one I find appealing. Similarly, being from the UK, in my opinion our newspapers are largely so biased towards their readers’ prejudices and based on websites coated with adverts, most of those are not appealing either.
So, how to balance the desire to stay informed in an increasingly news-saturated and advert heavy world and a desire to remain in possession of mental peace and quiet? Here are my suggestions.
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A real newspaper. Yes, they still exist, and yes, there still are some out there worth reading. I’m not going to make a recommendation based on anyone’s political persuasion, but I would recommend one of what we used to term the Broadsheets in this country. (Times, Guardian, Independent). They have the added appeal for me that when you put them down, they don’t beep, bing and buzz to get you to pick them up again and the adverts stay where they are printed. Plus there is still recourse if you lie in newspapers, much more than on some blog or on social media. There are a lot of good reporters and good reporting still out there.
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An online subscription. What I would recommend here is a subscription where you can download a whole copy of a newspaper and read it on a tablet, rather than an App or subscription to a website. It also takes a little discipline this one to sit down a read without flicking between Apps or onto another distraction. I know there is a lot of free news out there these days, but I do believe that:-
a) You get what you pay for, more than ever these days. b) A free press is important, and one of those things worth paying for. c) Taking care of the environment is important - and this option supports that as well.
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The radio. We have a lot of options in the UK and again, not all without their prejudices and biases, but I have to admit to being a big fan of radio, particularly for news. I like the BBC for this, which I know is not perfect but does tend to be generally unbiased. I have found in the past that people on the left criticise the BBC for being right-wing and people on the right are incensed with how left-wing it is. (My view here is that most of these people are so used to shouting into a media echo chamber, they believe anyone who doesn’t agree with their views to be biased against them.) I find that you can leave the radio humming away in the background and it will give you enough information to keep up to date without being too in your face. (or your ears)
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Podcasts. There are a lot out there and again, you have to pick and choose them carefully. Some of these carry subscriptions and again, I would argue, are worth paying for. Try a few out, give yourself a time of the day when you will sit down with your headphones and give the podcast your attention.
Underline all these ideas with the overarching idea of intent. Pick a time when you are going to consume your media and do it, rather than dipping in and out of news pages, blogs, social media etc. all day. Half an hour at the end of the day to listen to a podcast, a block of time in the morning with a coffee and a newspaper. Consume with intent, preferably with the phone out of the way, then you don’t need to have constant “BREAKING NEWS” in your face all day.
The world will carry on without you, and you will carry on without knowing what’s going on in it minute by minute