How We Get Our News

I've been thinking a lot lately about how we get our news and how we respond to that information.  There are so many sources of information these days it's amazing.  In fact there are so many sources that it is mind boggling.  No way could the average person absorb all the news that comes our way every day.  There isn't enough time.  There are enough brain cells.  So what does the average person do?  I think it depends on history, age, interest, location, circumstances, etc, etc, etc.  There probably isn't a general rule.  But there are probably some general tendencies.

For some reason I still take two newspapers.  The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Wall Street Journal.  Many mornings when I'm going out front to pick up the papers I ask myself why the hell I'm still getting a newspaper, let alone two.  I guess it must be tradition and comfort.  Bottom line is I just like getting the paper, getting a cup of coffee, and flipping through to see what's happening.  I like reading sports, I like reading comics (Dilbert and Blondie), I like seeing what the editorials are saying, hell, I even like Dear Abbey.  There's something tactile about a newspaper that is just satisfying and familiar to me.

But no way do I get most of my information from the newspaper.  I'm on the computer at various times most of the day.  I check several sources.  All the usual spots (NBC, Fox, Drudge, CNN, etc)  Check out the Places I Visit and you can see them.  That's where I get most of my info.  The thing I try really hard to do is check various sources.  We all hear stories about the media and their prejudices.  Well, I think that's right.  Afer all, they are only human.  I think everyone has a bias, whether it's subtle or overt.  That's why checking various sources is important.  There are others like Bloomberg, CNBCnet, BBC.com, etc.  But they don't seem to be as mainstream.

The last place I get info that I take seriously is TV.  The networks are all selling product as well as reading the news.  The glory days of network news seem to be behind us.  Cable news can be a good source but you have to be careful.  I guess Fox is right, MSNBC is left, and CNN tries to ride the middle.  At least that is the conventional wisdom.  Whenever I watch MSNBC it has a non-stop liberal bent.  When I watch Fox at least they have both sides.  But they are definitely conservative.  Some say PBS is the way to go because they are neutral.  Uh...I don't think so.  They have their views and they come through pretty regularly.

And then there is social media.  Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  That is the new communication method for many people.  I think it's great, but it's also a bit scary, a bit slimy, a bit intrusive.  And we do it to ourselves.  I find myself wanting to respond to some idiotic comment, or "like" some post, or post my own idiotic comments.  In fact I've done all that.  But the only thing it does is expose our prejudices, our weaknesses, our life.  When did it become okay to share everything about yourself with the world? I think the worst thing is how exposed we are on these sites.  In my first post I said I have a ton of friends and cherish them all.  And many of them are on Facebook.  But when I post some political or social view that might hurt someone or cause someone to doubt me as a friend, how is that good?  That's one of the reasons I started this blog.  I can write.  People can read or not.  If they don't like it they can not visit.  It's not as "out there" as Facebook.  At least it feels that way to me.  I'm writing this and perhaps no one is reading.  But that's okay, because I get to express myself.

So how does the average person get info that they can use.  My kids (I say kids in the loosest of terms...they are in their 30s) wouldn't think of reading a newspaper.  They rarely watch TV news.  For them, it's all about the internet.  They get most of their info there.  But they are typical young parents with a busy, busy life and getting the news isn't a big priority when there are soccer games to go to.  I think for the younger generation, it's all about the net.  Get what you need when you can.

And so what does all that say about the future of information?  Well, the first thing is that the days of newspapers are numbered.  Oh, they'll hang on for a while, maybe quite a while.  But hanging on is what they are doing.  Network TV news seems to me to be on it's way out.  Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Edward R Murrow are probably rolling over in their graves, but it's almost over for network news.  I'm not sure who is mistrusted more...network news or Congress.

So in my view it's all about the net.  Think about where we're going with hardware.  Phones, tablets, laptops...those are just the beginning.  Things will get better, smaller and faster.  Imagine a pair of glasses with a heads up display that is connected to the net.  Information 24/7.  Imagine holograms in your house giving you information. Imagine some devise embedded in your body that provides you information base on which of your senses needs a particular information set.  If you can imagine it, it can and will be done.  And that, my friends, is just the hardware story.  We went to the moon in 1969 with the computing power of today's average cell phone.  With what is being developed today, I can't even imagine the applications that can be developed with the computing power we possess.  It's an exciting time to be alive and watch the evolution of technology.

And this next thing isn't profound.  Figure out which companies have the right technology to provide the most information to the most people, and buy their stock.  The difficulty is in figuring that out.  But don't you wish someone would have told you to buy Google in the beginning?