In a digital age it is so difficult to find anyone who reads the newspaper anymore. I say this because recently, I found a copy of a newspaper from September 12th, 2001 in my house. I sat down with this newspaper and I read it through. Newspapers are such a foreign concept to so many people in today's world and I really have a hard time understanding why.
The newspaper is one of the greatest sources of information for current events and I prefer reading the newspaper to watching the news. I feel this way because often many news channels are often very biased towards one viewpoint. While newspapers can be biased, they are much more transparent when it comes to delivering actual news stories. Whereas they are more biased in the editorial section in which it is okay to discuss opinion.
The reason that I think I like the newspaper so much is that of the diverseness of it. While also delivering factual articles there's also a section that brings different viewpoints to light about certain situations. I've always liked the newspaper because I can read it and everything that has been going on is all right there. I can read it at my own leisure.
This is a very important aspect for me because I feel like with watching the news I never have time to digest the information newscasters present. Newspapers are like reading a book that keeps expanding every day. Going back to finding a newspaper from September 12th, 2001, which was so interesting to find because of what was going on in the United States at the time.
To read The Providence Journal from that day, being 19, was really interesting because I was so young when 9/11 occurred. As someone who is a history major, it was interesting from a historical context as well because it can be considered a primary source. Reading the newspaper from that day helped me to better understand what was seen and heard around the people who experienced 9/11.
What was interesting about this newspaper, as well, was the editorial section. I love editorials because I get to read things that often contradict my own opinions and standpoints. This makes me think about what I stand for, personally. I believe that it is important to read opinions that refute my own arguments because while challenging to read, it's helpful in understanding how the other side thinks.
Personally, I believe that understanding how people think differently is one of the most important phenomena of life as a whole. If you never are able to accept different viewpoints it's hard to have interactions with other people than yourself. Everyone thinks differently and I feel as though the newspaper is a great outlet to see this firsthand.
Even within factual articles, different writers stress different details when reporting the same story. This concept is very cool to think about because it shows the thought process of individuals, which I feel is important in understanding how people work and think.
