Here’s what I’d pay for
The “Moment” app stated that I only interact with my phone about 15% of the time in a week. Within the 26 hours screen-time utilized, I mostly skim through morning updates limited to the NYSE, the New York Times, YouTube and Instagram. The remaining hours are mostly centered on responding to WhatsApp messages made by my friends worldwide. A possible perception is that, through these results, I am disengaged with the world around me. The only problem with those results is that everything is that the statistics is based on traceable media, and not on live interactions.
Coming from a mixed heritage and having friends of polarizing political spectrums, I have become incredibly skeptical about media relayed to me. Whether it is CNN pop-ups or Fox News clickbait titles on YouTube, there seems to be such strong partiality against every topic discussed in the media. What has caused me a lot of problems is that, due to my one-hour time restriction on each app per day, I cannot fully grasp a news topic from a holistic point of view. This is something I am aware does not work well for me. When discussing with my group of friends, I could not verify if the statistics I consumed were correct as I do not have the full grasp of where my facts originate from. I only can analyze one news topic from one source at a time, cutting off other point-of-views from my comprehension.
I have clarity when I come in with an open-mind listening to my network, asking them to back up their news and debating with the opposing opinion. This gives better insight into understanding where each position is coming from and how they receive their facts. It helps discern what is simply emotional “parti pris” and what are a person’s actual viewpoints. I would purchase a platform that has these components within their feed as it would aid me in shaping my own opinion with full comprehension of a differing position.
The biggest issue within most news media is that currently there are no available sites that have clearly clashing perspectives present itself under one brand name. Therefore, for me to form my own opinion, I would have to subscribe and search all interested channels that are scattered throughout the web. Through this process, I would have to completely dissect the information of each company’s profile and reporting style and would have to spend a lot of money and time to keep up doing so. That is something I do not have the ability to do, nor do many working people in the U.S.A. due to the work hours and commitment we have to fulfill as part of ourprofession. Until a viable solution comes up — possibly with a brand with information that encompasses such opposing sides in one resource that is affordable — I would rather stick to free media with the possibility of making an error of judgment.
