I was brought up in a household where the paper dropped through the letterbox on a daily basis and the news was digested in a serious manner , something fairly common amongst the populace , save for those for whom the daily trip to the newsagent was as necessary as a morning coffee. Mum and Dad were of a generation where the papers could deliver news that may have been of earth shattering importance , possibly upon which one's life could depend somehow or other. They simply had to keep up to date. Mum still listens to the news every hour almost. I think the radio is hard wired into her lighting circuit.
Since setting up home I have never ever subscriber nor purchased a daily paper on anything like a regular basis. After all what threats were there ? Trips out for the day or on holiday perhaps, but who had time otherwise . Anything newsworthy would be on the bastion of truth and fair play - the Beeb !
Previous comment is tongue in cheek by the way
However , a few years ago I did subscribe to a weekly mag and for the past year or two I have actually subscribed to an online paper , updated throughout the day no less . So why the change ?
Is it because I am no longer practising as an accountant (so not busy any more) or has the wheel come full circle and my generation needs the news NOW 24/7 ?
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Replies (10)
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Balance is everything
Doesn't matter how you access the news provided that you have enough information from a number of fairly trusted sources. Hard copy is essential where broadband is so poor - BT and HMRC run each other close in their failure to achieve customer satisfaction.
On reception we keep The Times and Private Eye. On paper we also read The Week, Spectator, FT, weekends always, weekdays sometimes, Car and Classic Car magazines. Online we read Telegraph, Guardian, New Statesman.
This is all very well but its quiz night next Tuesday when once again our small knowledge of these things called 'celebrities' will show us up and condemn us to second place. If only there was room in life for Hello magazine but sadly there isn't.
Even with appalling internet my Times is downloaded and read daily, even if it's midnight. It's tradition...
Midnight reading
I must admit reading a broadsheet in bed on a tablet is a heck of a lot easier than the real thing .
My subscription is to the FT online as I find the stories are proper stories and not full of "my neighbour's hamster karate chopped my cat" sort of stuff. Let's face it most papers don't carry real news more the stuff of tittle tattle and interesting reading
As an active investor the FT give me a feel for real life issues closer to home and the commentaries are still interesting if not a tad heavy
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FT is the only remaining broadsheet.
I have given up on the Telegraph and the Times as they are just woeful and seemingly largely pursuing their proprietors agenda's. They seem to be positioned now about where the Mail was 30 years ago, which is now occupying Sun territory. I have no idea what is in the Sun, it seems to be in Daily Sport fantasy territory from what I can make out from the front cover.
I go for a broad range, online I go for Guardian and BBC, and in print FT (not every day), Private Eye and the highest quality of all, Viz.
Telegraph and Sun
The Telegraph , or perhaps better monikered as "The Daily Torygraph" comes across as somewhat patronising and righteous. I always chuckle when I look at their wonderful readers' offers that pass off products as being the best and superb value blah blah bah
As to the Sun , it exists to give white van drivers something to read when the lights are on red and to let said driver and his mate know how to vote in a general election
Newspapers
The Telegraph , or perhaps better monikered as "The Daily Torygraph" comes across as somewhat patronising and righteous. I always chuckle when I look at their wonderful readers' offers that pass off products as being the best and superb value blah blah bah
As to the Sun , it exists to give white van drivers something to read when the lights are on red and to let said driver and his mate know how to vote in a general election
At least the DT doesn't make any bones about where it's allegiance lies - the one calling itself "The Independent" - well, it isn't. As for the Sun, it's a "bend with the wind, go with the flow" kind of publication, like most of its readership.
I read a paper ...
... can't see the need for online news, nothing is that important it can't wait for a daily update.
Online news
I am minded to agree . The trouble with live 24/7 newsfeeds is that firstly it can create a sense of unease and panic , and secondly it makes us immune to terrible events
I recall my grandfather in his eighties reading the paper from cover to cover and tut-tutting to himself as he read articles about mudslides, earthquakes and war taking place in far flung parts of the world. In these days news was news and it made an impression. And this was a generation that knew what catastrophe really was.
Us ? We simply turn the page or click on the mouse and move on from the hyperbole jumping off the screen
Telegraph
Still have a Telegraph subscription. Its a break to read something not on a screen. The business and motoring sections are worth the subscription on their own. The letters pages provide light relief!
Telegraph
I read it at Mum's . I do like the business coverage and find some letters quite amusing
But you can't read it under the covers in bed....