Here’s What I’d Pay For
Being in college is expensive, but it does have its perks when you factor in the copious student discounts we receive. Like many of my peers, I pay the monthly student fee of $4.99 for a joint Spotify and Hulu subscription. These services, coupled with free platforms like YouTube, satisfy my entertainment needs. Unlike most of the population, I do not have a Netflix account because I don’t feel I would get much use out of it for the price I would pay. However, once I have a stable income, I would definitely consider subscribing to the service.
Another perk of being a student at USC are the subscriptions we have to The LA Times and The New York Times. If I were not a student I would only subscribe to The New York Times because they usually report the same stories, but faster. After diligently tracking my media consumption for one day and casually observing it for the remainder of the week, I found that I don’t dedicate a large amount of time when reading the news. Often I simply read the morning briefing sent out by The New York Times and maybe one or two breaking stories. This, I know, is not enough.
After contemplating this more I have a three-part answer to justify my lack of news consumption.
1. I hate reading about political drama at 7:30 in the morning
2. With limited time, it’s difficult to sit and read the news for 30 minutes
3. With so much news being delivered to my phone, it can feel overwhelming
These may sound like excuses, but these are my personal reflections. I genuinely hate starting my day with an article about how Trump said something rude to XYZ. These days it seems like our news only covers political drama. Frankly, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth for the rest of the day. As for my second justification, I can say that I am very selective about what stories I read because I have limited time. Being a senior in college, job hunting consumes my life. Moreover, I’m taking 18 credits and I work about 25 hours each week. This isn’t to say I never read the news because I don’t have the time, but rather, I only read the most important stories.
I don’t believe I’m alone with these issues. As we mentioned in class, there are hundreds of ways to consume media and each source pushes out dozens of stories every day. While this can be positive for some, for others like myself, it can feel overwhelming. I easily get 10–20 notifications every day from The New York Times and The LA Times. Sometimes it’s just too much, which is why I resort to the daily briefing.
As important as our political climate is, it is not the center of the universe and as the media continues to evolve, I’d like to see more diverse stories being published.
