Philosophy: News
One can judge a man by the newspaper he reads..
News is a fascinating. Very often these days I have conversations with people about the newspaper/website/news channel they follow/subscribe to. It is striking that I never had this conversation in the 23 years of my life in India. Then, why now?
In India news comes naturally to us. When I used to get up, the TV was mostly tuned to Star News or Aaj tak and the correspondents are dishing out the top headlines and the associated masala. Upon getting onto the bus, and I usually peeked into my co-passenger marathi newspaper. At work during breaks, daily news is a topic of general talks or hot discussions depending on the weather, intensity of the news, and understanding of the other person. After coming back home (albeit a bit late), I used to read the Times Of India. It is apparent that I was surrounded by news. The quality of the Indian news (all inclusive) is a debate for another day.
Upon landing in USA, I realized we didn't have TV. The newspaper, if I got my hand on one, would contain local news of a world foreign to me. I didn't travel much to work. Internet for news was an alien medium to me. So suddenly, there was no news.
Time passed, and I got more used to the internet to get my news. The local news became more relevant. I started subscribing to Mercury News (Sunday edition) and the Time magazine. We bought a TV set and got ourselves cable. I even adopted podcasts as a medium for getting news. So gradually the news was back in my life. I would like to spend the rest of blog, digging into the associated intricacies.
These days I can see myself clearly being influenced by the media I follow. Facts well filtered and forcefully presented, almost pass for truth. Leaked, made up, distorted, planted, and blown up are all adjectives for news. The question then is how many times we are able to figure them out. Are we smart enough to outthink a billion dollar news industry?
There is just too much information available. Ideally one would read/listen to all the news from all the sources, and form his/her own opinion. Life doesn't give us enough time to have this luxury. Obviously all the books/magazines/online articles are not meant for a single persons reading. This is where the problem starts. Nowadays, every time I discuss or try to form an opinion, I feel I don't have all the information. Maybe if I read some more, maybe if I researched some more. Maybe if I dedicated my life to it.
I am, what I think.
I think based on what I know.
I know from what I read.
So, what I read is who I am.
News is a fascinating. Very often these days I have conversations with people about the newspaper/website/news channel they follow/subscribe to. It is striking that I never had this conversation in the 23 years of my life in India. Then, why now?
In India news comes naturally to us. When I used to get up, the TV was mostly tuned to Star News or Aaj tak and the correspondents are dishing out the top headlines and the associated masala. Upon getting onto the bus, and I usually peeked into my co-passenger marathi newspaper. At work during breaks, daily news is a topic of general talks or hot discussions depending on the weather, intensity of the news, and understanding of the other person. After coming back home (albeit a bit late), I used to read the Times Of India. It is apparent that I was surrounded by news. The quality of the Indian news (all inclusive) is a debate for another day.
Upon landing in USA, I realized we didn't have TV. The newspaper, if I got my hand on one, would contain local news of a world foreign to me. I didn't travel much to work. Internet for news was an alien medium to me. So suddenly, there was no news.
Time passed, and I got more used to the internet to get my news. The local news became more relevant. I started subscribing to Mercury News (Sunday edition) and the Time magazine. We bought a TV set and got ourselves cable. I even adopted podcasts as a medium for getting news. So gradually the news was back in my life. I would like to spend the rest of blog, digging into the associated intricacies.
These days I can see myself clearly being influenced by the media I follow. Facts well filtered and forcefully presented, almost pass for truth. Leaked, made up, distorted, planted, and blown up are all adjectives for news. The question then is how many times we are able to figure them out. Are we smart enough to outthink a billion dollar news industry?
There is just too much information available. Ideally one would read/listen to all the news from all the sources, and form his/her own opinion. Life doesn't give us enough time to have this luxury. Obviously all the books/magazines/online articles are not meant for a single persons reading. This is where the problem starts. Nowadays, every time I discuss or try to form an opinion, I feel I don't have all the information. Maybe if I read some more, maybe if I researched some more. Maybe if I dedicated my life to it.
I am, what I think.
I think based on what I know.
I know from what I read.
So, what I read is who I am.
posted by Mohit Gupta at 12:29 AM
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