Media Consumption Diary

What I learned from my media consumption is that I do a lot of research or that I read things I find shared on social media or through a work Slack channel. I had to do a data journalism pitch on Monday, so a lot of the media I consumed was through research. I also had my capstone pitch due on Monday, which is a sports story, so I was doing research on that. What I read that wasn’t for research seemed to be sports-orientated regardless, which makes sense because I am a sports reporter/baseball analyst.

I realized that I should diversify my media consumption, though. Sometimes, I feel as though I don’t read hard news anymore because it’s what I used to cover when I was in undergrad. Because I’ve figured out a focus on what I want to do, my media consumption leans more toward my focus and I can miss a lot of great stories that way.

Since I did the log, I’ve noticed that I’m going out of my way to read more and more and consume stories of a different slant. I want to be more diverse than what I have been reading.

I had a conversation with my partner after I filled out the log and realized that depending on the field a person is in, a lot of their media consumption leans more toward their profession or area of expertise. An economics student or professional might lean more toward subscribing to The Economist than their local paper because it is more beneficial to them. The focus of a media entity/publication can draw a person in due to the content that is provided. I know that that is why I read a lot of sports publications.

Media corporations/publications draw readers this way. I feel as though the content is the most important part of a publication, especially if there is an emphasis on a certain subject, but there are places out there that do “clickbait” in order to increase revenues. While it’s not the greatest journalism out there, a balance of “clickbait” and serious journalism can balance each other out, one being what brings in the money and can fund the other. BuzzFeed employs this model and, while I am not fond of “clickbait”, I respect their business model because it allows for longform pieces and investigative stories.

I’ve seen a lot of publications try to employ this model, with the New York Times publishing articles—peas in guacamole, anyone?—that will get people talking just so they draw more readers/users in. It doesn’t necessarily kill the stream of content that is good, but it adds another aspect to the publication and there is an audience for it. I may not be the target audience, but it’s out there.

In the end, regardless of if it is a publication that focuses on one subject or if it’s a site that knows how to monetize in order to fund other reporting, the landscape of journalism will continue to change. It’s all just a matter of how publications will adapt.