Why buy a Newspaper these days? : Blog # 228

Why buy a Newspaper these days?

              We are living in a day and age where information is no more an elitist entity. There was a time when information was available only to a select few who had either the access or the resources to engage and please people who had that kind of access. Today, the tables have turned. One is blinded by information. There are numerous channels where information is available.

            Let us begin with electronic media. A political leader’s speech or a business leader’s conference or a film star’s movie launch or a cricket match is being telecast live. No one is waiting till the next morning to get these updates. But, not all of us are in a position to analyze the outcomes of the above events. More importantly, many of us lack the expertise to understand what sort of an impact the above events might have in our lives. This can be facilitated by an expert in that field who can be a news reporter.

            Also, when an event of importance occurs, one might not know how it originated. Many a time, we get to see only a Ratan Tata driving out the first Nano car from Sanand. One might not know what relevance Mamta Banerjee has in this context. Here is where a good news paper’s researched article comes handy. Gone are the days when a reporter used to print verbatim of a speech. In today’s world, we have already seen it live. All I am interested in knowing is how is it going to affect me, my family, my state and my country. Good Newspapers tell you that.

            The next medium is the all pervasive Internet! I love internet. But Internet is like that friend of ours who keeps us updated about our social circle but has a tendency to lie. The sad part is we always get to know that our friend has lied only after a long while. The same is the case with our dear internet. There is a lot of misinformation floating around the web. If eminent people like Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam come to know of the kind of quotes attributed to him in the internet, he would want to logout permanently. As much as information it gives, there is no way to know the truth from the fallacy.  Here is where one should read a news paper.

I am not saying newspapers do not mis-report. They also do. But it happens much rarely than on the internet. Also, like us humans, internet is also good at pointing out mistakes in others. So when a newspaper gets some facts wrong, there will be enough and more trolls on the internet that you will come to know sooner that there was a mis-reporting.

          Thanks to our busy-to-breathe lifestyle, none of us have the time or inclination to read and understand about things outside our periphery of concern. The chances of a person working in IT seeking out and reading about Infant mortality rate in our country is very thin. Same is the case with a banker reading up on Cloud technology and its business impacts. A good newspaper will cover almost entire spectrum of   various realms of our lives which one should be at least aware of in order to effectively play the part of a contributing citizen towards the society we live in .

Arun Babu

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