Media Blog Consumption
When I assess how I consume media on a daily basis it became evident that I need to diversify my sources of news content. My passion is sports so I am constantly checking in on sport sites like ESPN, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated and The Undefeated. This is primary where I get most of my news, which can be problematic given that this is a niche market that focuses specifically on just sports news and not hard news. I typically listen to ESPN First Take or ESPN Mike & Mike podcast every morning while getting ready for school but this week I haven’t had much time for that. I listen to The Herd with Colin Cowherd on iHeart Radio as well because he’s very compelling and opinionated radio broadcaster. My attention span is very short so I have a tendency to rely on push notifications to feed me updates on any current events or breaking news stories. From there, I tried to read the stories that capture my attention but most times for the sake of time I just depend on the notifications. However, for someone who aspires to be a broadcaster, I should not just rely on a few sites to give me news content, but rather I should be pulling information from a multitude of places to get a more accurate and thorough understand of whatever I’m reading about at the time.
When it comes to finances I have never really considered paying for my news. My lack of media consumption makes it difficult to judge what is a good source of news or not so I just use the same sources that I’ve grown accustomed to trusting. Not to mention they are FREE. I buy Sports Illustrated or ESPN magazines to add to my growing magazine collection but other than that I conventional websites where I can get hard news for free (i.e. CNN, ABC, ESPN). Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook has pretty much eliminated the need to pay for subscriptions to websites or newspapers because many people are so willing to share their content with the individuals. It would be very difficult to convince me to pay for my news when I know I can find it somewhere for free. Snapchat is another example of a social media platform that provides news content for free to its users. I also don’t watch very much television and I definitely don’t watch news. It’s difficult to find time to sit in front of the television and watch the news and usually when I watch TV its to catch some highlights from SportsCenter on ESPN or a marquee sporting event that’s must-see TV.
One thing this exercise has made me realize is that I need to watch and consume more hard news because its essential that I remained informed on current events. I actually feel kind of embarrassed that I’m admitting my media consumption habits, but it gives me a honest assessment of what kind of news I seek and how often I immerse myself in the media.
