Madison Weil Media Consumption Blog
Although I was already relatively familiar with the manner in which I digest my news and media, it was a bit shocking to see my patterns tracked and revealed on an hourly basis. As a young student always on the go, almost all of my news consumption comes from my smartphone. I utilize my phone as a mechanism to occupy any vacant moment throughout the day — elevator rides, bus rides, coffee lines, etc. As a result, the time spent per piece of news or article is relatively short. I often skim articles or watch only a minute or two of a video to get the basic idea of the piece. I do not think this is an uncommon practice in my generation. Although I wish this wasn’t the case, I believe many of us have developed a short attention span due to the massive amount of media constantly surrounding us working in conjunction with the quick-paced speed at which we live in our lives in bustling Los Angeles.
Another result of this lifestyle is that the majority of the news that I digest comes from Facebook. I turn to Facebook as a way to get all of the media I want — I get social media updates from friends and family, entertaining viral videos, as well as important substantial news content to keep me updated on local, national and global affairs. I make sure I follow a wide variety of news sources on Facebook, from local and national TV news stations such as KTLA, NBC, CNN, CBS, to up and coming modern media companies such as VICE, Mashable, Pop Sugar, BuzzFeed, ATTN, Fusion, etc. What I found interesting is that although I tend to trust traditional news stations more, I actually engage more often modern media companies. I think this is because they are doing a better job of creating headlines, graphics and videos that captivate young online audiences.
I also seem to read a lot of New York Times and Los Angeles Times articles and watch their videos, but only when I can access them for free. I’ve noticed recently that some sites try to get me to pay or subscribe for their content, but I refuse to do this. This could be because I’m young and have a substantial amount of student loans, but also I find it difficult to want to pay to subscribe to a source when there is so much free content online currently. And many free media companies cover the same breaking news stories I am trying to access daily.
As a young journalist about to enter this business, I recognize the shift in the monetization of journalism. Although journalism is still relying heavily on advertisements, the shift from solely print, to T.V., to web journalism has changed the way in which we rely on advertisements. Although as a user I am not paying for every article or piece of journalism I am consuming, I know companies are paying large amounts of money to have their advertisements on the side bars of the pages I am looking at. I am impressed and inspired by individuals who have created successful modern media companies that basically generate income for them constantly as users click, read and engage around the globe. As an individual who is part of a generation that is currently digesting media in this way, I want to fully understand this process and how journalists can work with advertisers to maximize revenue.
