College students lead an incredibly busy life, one of the things that this generation hardly does is take the time to read the news.
It’s understandable, college students are busy studying, socializing and going to classes. Added to the busy college life is the blitz of attention-grabbing advertisements, Instagram posts and sensational Snapchat stories. It is difficult to even think about making time to read the news.
Today’s worldly happenings are not just at the top of the list of concerns.
Not reading the news may not seem like a huge deal, but it is. News keeps the community informed about local hazards, car accidents and thefts as well as the weather and local politicians. It also is a source of entertainment, revealing UI football scores for those who missed the game.
Local news is especially important because it makes the community aware of what will affect them the most. For example, media tells the public when the local government will be changing and how. If the property taxes are rising due to a change in local government, the news is where the community can find the most helpful and accurate information on new taxes.
The news also reports on important events like accidents and disasters. Say, a popular restaurant burns down and it wasn’t reported in the news.
The community would be bombarded by posts on social media with no definitive answer how the fire started. The local news is reported swiftly and with accuracy, something that is nearly impossible to find on platformslike Instagram and Facebook. News sources, such as Big Country News, have begun taking advantage of social media in order to make their reporting swift, brief and easy for everybody to access. The use of social media makes it easier for almost everyone to read the news as soon as it comes out, rather than waiting for the print paper in the morning.
There is a problem with this, when news sources go online, reporters put the same amount of work to publish their content as they would to print. Online content makes a lot less money from ads than it does in print. In essence, putting content online lowers the material value. As a result, news sources is make less revenue off the same amount of work.
Take textbooks as an example. When a student buys a textbook in print, it is a material object and therefore more expensive. W ith the exact same content, that the student could find a digital verson of that same book with a fraction of the cost.
Without sufficient funds to keep reporters working, news sources end up having to cut down labor costs, meaning less reporters. A shortage of reporters means a lack of news leaving the community less informed. This is an issue worldwide, not just in Moscow.
Being aware of what is happening in your town, area, country and even the world is one of the best things a young adult can do to help themselves and their community. We are in college now, but when we are finished we will be out there in that big, bad world. The news is the best tool when it comes to navigating through it.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected]