I make a conscientious effort to stay informed on current events, and what was surprising to me was the fact that I seemed to be in the minority in that sense. The central theme to Unit 1 was how the internet has changed our culture’s civic literacy, and with passive news almost unavoidable now due to the internet, the idea that we gather news in different ways now is not surprising. Unfortunately I’m not completely aware of how our sample of young adults compares to the news-gathering habits of other generations prior to the existence of the internet.
Something that I found to be interesting is the sense of guilt associated with not following the news. I don’t mean to say that someone who follows the news is in anyway better than someone who doesn’t, but if you felt guilty about not following the news, why don’t you? Now I can understand it in a sense that many people are “guilty” that they don’t work out more, or that they don’t go to church more, etc. but I find it interesting that this still occurs in an era where news is more readily available than ever before. From my limited perspective there seems to be a negative correlation: that as news is more available to everyone, the less interested they are in knowing the news. I’m not saying that correlation equals causation or even that our time is much different than others in this respect, I just find it interesting. This coincides with Carr’s jet-ski analogy, considering that it appears that many internet users don’t appear to have either the time or inclination to keep up with current events.
Word of mouth appears to be a reliable news outlet for many of my classmates, and one reason for this is maybe perhaps because of the vast availability of passive news. If one can stay functionally informed just from their Yahoo.com newsfeed, then the need to actively seek out the news no longer exists. It should be noted that this is pure speculation on my part, however it seems to me that the reliance on passive news is increasing while the reliance on active news may be diminishing.
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I do realize that I picked blogs that leaned more towards the right, but I found that they had interesting articles and I liked what I saw when I looked at them briefly. There's no telling if I'll truly like them, but that's why I said that I might change my mind.
ReplyDeleteAs for the majority of my (television) news watching coming from FOX - you have to realize that I don't watch all the programs; only the ones that interest me. I watch their business network, and their Sunday morning show with Chris Wallace, among others. I try to dabble in several different networks, but FOX has a lot of reporters that I enjoy listening to (whether it is opinion or not). Again, I'm not perfect - it's true that I could probably listen to more liberal journalists, but I don't completely overlook them, either. I watch Meet the Press and Stephanopoulos' show with my dad during the weekend, and while I may enjoy FOX more, I don't forget that there are other networks to heed.
It is like you said - not many networks are completely nonpartisan anymore, but every network does offer at least some shows that are relatively moderate.
Do you consider Meet the Press to be liberal?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the "sense of guilt" thing. . . . but I think it stems from having ready access and choosing to ignore it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen many people who actively search the news out beside you in this class, but neither have I read everyone's blog. :-) It appears as if you find yourself a member of the minority, Allan.
Wonderfully written, insightful post.
That's an apt comparison of the guilt in not watching the news and not working out. Both may be considered a type of work. Both also require some leisure time and access to the gym or to the internet. I too find the guilt idea really interesting.
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