Why I prefer newspaper over news channels

Last year has been interesting in several ways. Too many things happened in India's political and social circle. The shocking thing, however, is the amount of misinformed and unaware people that I was surrounded with.

I do not blame them though, I understand their situation as well. There is so much information pouring in from all sides that it totally gets overwhelming to process all of it. 

It made me wonder, do we really need constant updates? Do we have the time to read? Do we already don't have enough on our plate?

This is where the newspaper comes in. Information which is properly processed and then published is crucial in this day and time.

Unless it is an actual 'Breaking News' by which I mean, 

1. Natural Disasters
2. Political and Social Updates
3. War like situations etc.

I do not think there is a need to put out constant news updates. Generally, when we watch the news on a TV Channel, the story is still developing, most do not have any concrete information and are generally reporting 'what it seems like' on ground.

A detailed report with all the information, pros and cons and expert opinions, can only come in after you have all the information on the table. 

A newspaper does just that. It processes the information. A person writes it, another person edits it, then it again goes to the first person for an OK, then the editor takes a look at it. 

There are several stages of fact-checking and the article has to be accurate to go to print. After all of this is completed, the paper reaches you in the morning with,

1. Proper information
2. No fluff
3. All the happenings from across the globe are mentioned on dedicated pages
4. Takes you a certain reading time (depending on your reading speed) to stay updated with the current happenings.

And after you have updated yourself with the latest happenings, you can carry on with your day without being constantly bombarded with new information.

Seems like a convenient thing to do right? Let's also not forget that it inculcates a reading habit.

But let's not forget that we live in a digital age, and there are several digital platforms who are doing some amazing work. You can identify them and follow their work. But do check if the information that they provide is,

1. Verified
2. Dependable
3. Articulate
4. Not sliding with one ideology is giving you a holistic picture

( You should also check for the above things in a newspaper. But if it is a newspaper, the above things are generally taken care of anyway. )

So, if you are looking for a New Year resolution, then maybe taking up reading newspaper is a good one to start with, you would be surprised by the amount of knowledge and information it can provide.

Have an opinion on the topic? Let's chat in the comments :)

Photo by Artem from Pexels