JLM 319: Online News Journal

Kathryn Short
Sep 3, 2018 · 3 min read

As a child, reading the newspaper was a daily activity for me. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up and some of my favorite memories with them were going out to get the paper, sitting down together and reading it front to back. Whenever I look back on these memories, it always astonishes me how far news consumption has come, especially in the technology age. It’s strange to think about it, but I no longer read physical newspapers and instead have turned to popular online versions of news organizations, such as The New York Times or CNN, to read my news. And with the easy accessibility of news today, I simply open my iPhone, check my news notifications and start browsing through stories.

Over the past couple of days of keeping my news diary, I noticed many things that I always do in regards to my news consumption. First, I noticed that how I consumed my news was almost always through my iPhone and its apps. Every morning I wake up, I immediately grab my phone and read any text messages and notifications I have. Then, I see if there are any news notifications I find particularly interesting and I might click on one or two of them that take me to external apps or websites for the story. However, if I don’t find anything of interest, I instead go on Twitter and start browsing through the trending topics, skimming over the stories I may have missed the day before.

After looking on Twitter, I head to The New York Times app and check out their daily briefing feature, which tells the reader what they need to know for the day. Most of the stories in this feature are just excerpts from the leads of the main story and it is perhaps my favorite way to get a quick rundown on multiple news stories. It’s quick and to the point, yet it still has plenty of information for me get a quick summary of the stories without having to read dozens of them. From this feature, I then select the stories I want to read, hopping from related content to the next, before I begin my day. I also read online news with my laptop, but this is only if I have to use my laptop for an assignment, or if I’m bored and want to read a story on a larger device. In general, I found that I primarily use my iPhone to find and read news stories, occasionally checking my notifications for any breaking news.

By keeping a news journal, I learned a lot about how I personally consume news and how often I do it. I didn’t even realize that I was always reading news online and through my iPhone. I found that I read the news everyday on my way to class, while I ate meals, as well as in the mornings and when I go to bed. Furthermore, I was able to recognize that I had made a habit out of reading the news on my phone and checking my notifications, as I often did it without thinking about it. I also realized in keeping a journal was that many of the stories I read were from The New York Times. I remember hearing that this news source was one of the most reliable. What I found most interesting about this journal was that at some point I had ingrained the idea that The New York Times was the only source to go to, so I actively trained my brain to primarily read it for news, which is not always a good thing, as consulting only one source can lead so a serious bias in news coverage.

Moreover, I also found that the easy accessibility of news notifications on my phone and news apps made my reading experience very different as to when I used to read the newspaper as a child. Online news is more ‘real time,’ is actively updated and easier to obtain when it’s in the palm of your hand. Paper or physical news can only provide readers with so much information and I liked that keeping this news journal allowed me to see both the pros and cons of online news consumption.