I am not a very active news-follower; I don’t go in search
of it. What I learn about current events is usually gleaned from what I hear
people talking about from day to day. I feel a little guilty admitting that; I
always hear how we should be active members of society which includes being
aware of what is going on in the world. My passive news-gathering though doesn’t
leave me completely out in the cold; I hear about things from many different
sources still. Facebook is a great provider of, well I wouldn’t call it serious
news but, cultural news and if the event is significant enough you’ll find
world happenings on your news feed as well. I also get a lot of my news from
what friends and professors are discussing that day. And then if I hear
something that interests me I usually go Google it later and learn more. It’s a
rather relaxed system, but it works for me right now.
Coming to
college has actually depleted my sources for news. I used listen to the radio every
day and watch the news on television (or at least have it on in the background),
but now I don’t have a car and never find the time to turn on the TV. I’d also
pick up the Omaha World Herald from time to time. Because of this writing
class, I have gotten back into the habit of reading the paper. With all the
merits of the New York Times, however, I don’t find myself very interested in
what it has to say. In my polysci class last quarter we read an article that
discussed how news has become less localized, and because of that less relevant
to the individual. Every town used to have a local newspaper, but the media has
evolved into and handful of prominent newspapers and news channels that have to
report on more broad based events to appeal to a large audience. If CNN had
reported on the new baseball stadium they built in Papillion, no one would have
cared, except the 20,000 of us who live there and probably a few others from
the state. So, when I read the New York Times, though it has plenty of
business, war, and international news, I find myself disinterested.
I agree, it's a lot more difficult in college to keep up with the news. I feel as if in high school, our schedules were more structured, and almost had allotted time for keeping up with current events
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