What I learned from my media diaries
After writing down my media habits, I realized I consume less news than I thought. Monday and Tuesday this week, I checked news in the morning, the afternoon, and sometimes in the evening. I didn’t spend as much time with the articles as I assumed I did. Usually, I spent about 3 or 4 minutes with each article. This was interesting to me because I always felt like I spent a lot more time reading the news. The fact that I overestimated how much media I consume, I think, speaks to how overwhelmed I feel sometimes by information and the news even when I’m not seeking it out.
Another conclusion I took from this exercise is how often I looked at the New York Times app. I like to look at the app right when I wake up, and it is usually the first place I go to during the day. I have a certain loyalty to the app because I grew up with the New York Times. It was the newspaper my family always had sitting on the kitchen table. In terms of the business of news, I think this media diary taught me that brand loyalty can be very strong. Additionally, for a news publisher to reach me, it helps if they start when I’m young.
I did check the LA Times daily email “Essential California” and read a few articles from there. Reading the LA Times has been a habit that I’ve tried to make stronger since moving to California and starting school here. The email from the LA Times, however, usually ends up in the promotions section of my inbox. Sometimes, this makes me forget that it’s there. Again, I think this is another clue for the business of news (making sure the news is ‘in your face’ is always helpful.)
This diary also made me think about how much I miss listening to the radio and how non-existent it is in my life when I don’t have a car. When I stopped driving this summer, I tried to switch to listening to the NPR One App. However, the practice never really caught on. It was too hectic to try to listen to the app on my phone while trying to get ready for school in the morning. It felt much easier just to read an article over breakfast.
It was also interesting to me to find in my diaries that one of the times I checked Facebook, I ended up reading an article from the New York Times that came up in my news feed. This felt funny to me because I check the NYT app so much. When I tried to go through a different avenue to consume news from other places, I still ended up at the NYT site. This didn’t always happen of course but I think this particular instance spoke to the echo chamber of consuming news.
I would like to diversify my media consumption more and look at other media outlets for stories. I’d also like to spend more time looking at the news but hope to feel less overwhelmed by information.
