Reading the news is a smart way to spend time. But now that the world runs at a fast pace, many people prefer browsing “instant news” on their social media feeds over reading a newspaper in the morning. With this habit, these people don’t realise that they’re losing the benefits of getting a daily dose of news.
Informed Citizens
Without getting fact-checked, social media posts can be quickly shared to thousands of users in just a short period of time. And with their virality, these posts often appear reliable even if their content is not. So when you treat viral Facebook and Instagram posts as your source of news, there’s a chance you’ll become a misinformed citizen. The opposite happens when you keep a habit of reading the newspaper every day. After all, journalists are trained to research properly and check their sources of facts before they publish a news article.
Broader Worldview
When you read the news every day, you are informed of what recently happened to the world. While you can obtain snippets of foreign news from Twitter or Facebook, reading from the opinion and feature sections of broadsheets can take your view of the world to a higher level. Journalists who contribute stories to these sections are often experienced enough to share their outlook on certain global issues.
With a broader worldview, you can form better opinions during discussions with your colleagues at work. This is beneficial, especially to young professionals, as many older folks at the office think that Millennials don’t know much more than the latest viral Facebook posts.
Sharper Writing
Journalists are wordsmiths, hence, their works are a perfect place to learn new words. When you read a newspaper every day, you can expand your vocabulary. If you’re a novice in business and marketing, for instance, you’ll easily learn industry jargons when you have a habit of reading the business news regularly. In turn, your writing will become sharper, and this will provide you with an edge over your competitors at work.
Better Shot at Life
From crimes and politics to human interests, newspapers contain various stories on life. When you get your daily dose of news, you have access to an array of happenings where you can pick up an advice or two. It is also the reason why newspapers are almost full of bad news. When people read a disaster or crime news, they tend to pick the story as a warning sign to avoid the same fate in their everyday lives. By just spending an hour reading a newspaper every day, you can have a better shot at life.
Browsing your social media feed for news is not an entirely bad idea. You can get news snippets from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. However, reading a broadsheet is still a better way of getting accurate and insightful news stories. In addition, it is a beneficial way of spending a few minutes of your day, as illustrated in this article. So, it is no wonder that amidst the digital advances today, getting your daily dose of news from a newspaper still matters.