Evolution of my News Consumption

The way I consume news has evolved steadily in the past 10 - 15 years.  Print, TV and radio were my media:   I subscribed to the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and Sports Illustrated.  We made sure our cable package had CNN, as I enjoyed the wider and deeper coverage of news than that of local stations.  When I traveled abroad, BBC became a favorite to watch on TV.  Tooling around in the car, I had WBBM switched on.  As Twitter is to micro-blogging, WBBM radio is to micro-news.    

My travels as a management consultant picked up steam, and my news consumption became more of an online activity.  It was very gradual.  I learned that my WSJ subscription gave me full access to its online fare, so that's where I read it.  The other subscriptions fell by the wayside one by one.  Also, with better internet bandwidth at hotels, it was easier to watch news videos online.  Traveling meant airplanes, taxis and minivans, so I was hardly in my car anymore and thus had little opportunity to listen to the radio.

Two years ago, I decided not to renew my very last (paid) subscription - WSJ - and went with Google News as my home page when I launched my browser.

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Then, at the beginning of this year, I found myself more active on Google+, and really enjoyed not just new circles of friends, but also new streams of news, quotes and photos.  Soon thereafter, I switched my home page to Google+.  With LinkedIn and Twitter already serving as news feed for me, my news consumption is now driven mostly by social media.

The irony?  I still read the Tribune, WSJ and Sports Illustrated, plus scores of other publications of interest to me, because they have pages on Google+, Twitter, and-or Facebook.

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings and amidst Hurricane Sandy devastations, CNN coverage on TV was compelling and heartbreaking.  But it soon became monotonous for me.  It was repetitive, even obsessive.  Information comes in increments, so clarity about an event happens in a discontinuous manner, that is, when news breaks.  In the meantime, reporters and newscasters resort to half-baked babble.

What I didn't like

• The lack of control over the programming and timing of what I was watching
• The lack of choice over commercial ads, except of course to switch channels or switch the TV off entirely
• The limited perspectives taken by the news editors, mainly overlooking those of international or contrary views

I imagine that these news stations have to accommodate what may be the 'Short Head' of their audience, that is, what the majority of their viewers are interested in.  The 'Long Tail' is where the rest of the audience is, and this is the purview of the internet.

Where someone like me has far wider control, further reach, and greater options.  

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD