First to Report, First to Find Out

     

All rights reserved by David Ho Ming Lam

        Instead of relying on one source for your news, why not all of them?

        The days when our parents strictly tuned-in to their favorite news station on the T.V., and only that station, is near over; these days, we can get the freshest news of the hour from a variety of sources on the internet. Of course, some still prefer their "go-to" news website for getting the latest down-low, but I'd say that, still, is an obsolete way of getting the news.

        If one goes to news.Google.com, they are presented with an aggregate news feed from the top trending headlines worldwide, among other factors such as (but not limited to) freshness, location, relevance, and diversity. Logically, a website using computer generated data when selecting which news articles are featured, which does not adhere to any bias or political ideology, would be a superior method of receiving news (if unbiased and non-slanted information is what you are seeking, which I'd hope is).

        I've used Google's news feature inadvertently, but have never dedicated it as my sole news outlet. In fact, I don't actually have a dedicated news outlet; I simply don't bother with news. That does not mean that I am oblivious to what's happening around the world, though. I, again inadvertently, read news on reddit.com when it appears on the top of the "All Subreddits" section. However, today, I would not rely on reddit for news if I was searching for it, as it's admins have (finally) admitted that reddit's "Front Page" algorithm is broken, which means, in layman's terms, that "top stories" shown on reddit are not an accurate portrayal of what actually are top trending stories.

        I'd imagine that a large percentage of my generation, the Millennials, "bump" into news rather than deliberately search for it.

 All rights reserved by Marco de Waal

        Out of curiosity, I researched the numbers and found an article by the American Press Institute that referenced a study which was done by the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and American Press Institute. The study showed that while 89% of millennials state that keeping up with the news is at least somewhat important to them, only 69% get news at least once a day.
     
        Although getting the news from a newspaper or T.V. station is, undoubtedly, no longer considered the norm for Millennials, I'd argue that we still keep up with the times. In fact, I'd say that news is even more embedded in our lives than in our predecessor's. Although I don't use Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, I'd say that I am consistently up-to-date with the current news cycle due to second-hand exposure on the internet, and those that do use social media may even be more exposed to current happenings around the world than I am.

        News and the internet go hand in hand. It would be difficult to access the internet and not get news in some form, whether it is tidbits about your school's upcoming events or passing glances at the news on Yahoo's front-page.

        As I've said, I don't "read the news," per say; not on paper, and not on the internet. However, all of the news that I do read comes from the internet.

        It's funny how that works.