I know there’s something going on. And no, I am not just talking about the 80’s song by Frida. There’s something going on out there that I don’t know about but I feel I should. The question – and challenge – is, how do I find out about it?
I am talking about what we refer to as “the news.” In my younger days, it was easy to find out what was going on. Growing up in western Massachusetts, the biggest choice we had was watching channels 22 or 40, and most people watched 22. (Occasionally we watched channel 3 and saw Oprah’s friend Gayle, but that was in Hartford, CT so we didn’t care as much about the Nutmeg state, but I digress) WHYN-AM was news radio before they called it that. Then there was the Springfield Daily-News that everybody read. And for the smaller, local stories, there was The Reminder. Keep in mind this was the 70’s and 80’s, and for those who were around then will know that was all we needed.
When I moved an hour away from my base to Pittsfield, MA when I graduated from college, the first thing I did was subscribe to the local newspaper, the Berkshire Eagle. Why? I wanted to know what was going on. A year later when I finally landed in the Boston area, I would get the Newton Tab, Waltham Daily News-Tribune and the Sunday Boston Globe, with TV news and WBZ-AM news radio filling in the gaps. In both cities, the combined news coverage worked, and as this time period was the 90’s.
Fast forward a decade or so, and I am in Chicago. I have only purchased the Chicago Tribune once – my wife’s name was in it. I get the daily emails from the Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, but they only offer the larger stories. And TV news only shows a small subset of those larger stories - the murders, not the smaller stories like the minutiae of the city council. Chicago is also much larger than Boston – its population is about half of that of Massachusetts! In order to fill in the gaps, I read blogs from news providers such as Crain’s, professionally-run blogs like the Chicagoist and Gaper’s Block and a variety of individual bloggers. Those combined give me a much better picture of the smaller news stories.
So what’s my point? There has been a lot of talk about the demise of the printed newspaper and TV news. Where I don’t know when this will happen, my guess it will be a slow and painful one. I do believe the timeframe will be based on its relevancy – will it be the place people go to get the news, or be entertained? When the news is followed by one of those Hollywood reporter shows, it’s hard to tell when one ended and the other began. Is it that I have something out for journalists or reporters? Heck no. I just want to know what’s going on, and they just don’t seem to be telling me anymore.
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I’m looking for the personal relevance to what’s going on. I stopped watching TV news because it’s all negative—who got shot today, who’s getting scammed, spin on the war, etc. And all of it wasn’t personally relevant and only served to put negativity into my mind.
Right now, I get my news from BBC online a couple times a week, and subscribe to the Economist and BusinessWeek, which I skim. I also subscribe to Chicago bloggers and business news sites.
I (really) don’t like commercial(ized) media. I’m a Firefox/Adblock guy to the core so I don’t see an overwhelming majority of online ads. The only place I watch TV is in the gym, and it’s usually History or Discovery. When the commercials come on I crank the music and look up (helping neck posture and avoiding commercials at the same time).
I want honest media, and relevant media. Not just what sells, and not something influenced by advertisers’ money. One tidbit I picked up along the way, I believe from Jeffrey Gitomer, is “are you affecting the news, or is the news affecting you,” or something like that. I use that as a wakeup whenever I find myself surfing news sites or blogs too much, it reminds me to go do something productive :-)
I’ll check out Chicagoist/Gapers Block per your recommendations. I’m not sure how relevant they’ll be to me given I’m a suburbanite, I’m sure they’ll be more relevant than Commercial Network News, though.
Comment by
Tim Courtney
on 03/06/08 at 10:04 AM
Hi Tim - Thanks for you input, and my guess is there’s more of us. I do something similar at the gym - not listening to its audio and my own also increases my speed!
mp/m
Comment by
Mike Maddaloni
on 03/06/08 at 10:35 AM
Not only that Mike, but I do not trust what they are telling me. Pretty sad, but I will not purchase the NY Times, nor read its web pages anymore. I assemble my news via bloglines. This includes my dose of the Hot Iron.
Cheers,
Peter
Comment by Don Pedro
on 03/06/08 at 11:04 AM
@Don I don’t trust them either. I’ve remained largely neutral on issues such as the war over the years because I find it near impossible to get past the bias on either side and get to the real information that isn’t spun for someone’s agenda. With commercial media, there’s also all the news that’s left out—hard-hitting reporting that should be directed at companies that are sponsors (or now with consolidation, the parent company), that isn’t said.
Also, the stories that make a broadcast or the paper aren’t necessarly highlighted in degree to their relevance, but to what will sensationalize. Politically inconvenient items are relegated to back pages or quick mentions, etc.
So yeah, hard to trust.
Comment by
Tim Courtney
on 03/06/08 at 11:42 AM
I was talking to the heads of the RNC and DNC and they confirmed that unless a candidate takes out ads in their papers, the paper will really not cover their candidate that much. Essentially, the media’s function is to sell us toothpaste and other products. Your benefit is the least of their concerns. So folks, don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back with some more news about the two headed politician who sleeps with his grandmother!
Comment by Don Pedro
on 03/06/08 at 12:11 PM
I’ve changed my tune a bit. It’s been pointed out to me that AM radio hasn’t died, so I’ve admitted I am wrong. Newspapers have another 50 years in them, I’m sure. But it is a good point you raise. I am a huge fan of Extreme Home Makeover and they were near my house two weeks ago and I found out about it a week late and only through a friend’s blog.
If you really like the newspaper feel check out:
http://www.feedjournal.com
Comment by
John Wall
on 03/06/08 at 01:08 PM
@John - You mean you didn’t hear Ty shouting? :)
I wouldn’t say you are wrong. Big city papers may go quicker than those in small towns. And there will always be things that impede progress - if Amazon gave away the Kindle, I bet paper books would go much, much quicker!
mp/m
Comment by
Mike Maddaloni
on 03/06/08 at 02:52 PM
I almost think smaller papers will remain relevant because they have the luxury of being more nimble. At large news organizations, you need 15 sign-offs to get stuff done.
We’ll see if things change.
Mike - And, of course, you go to DanielHonigman.com for all your cigar news, no?
Comment by
Daniel
on 03/06/08 at 02:56 PM
@Daniel - Your blog, and CigarJack too!
mp/m
Comment by
Mike Maddaloni
on 03/06/08 at 03:21 PM
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