Now when my professor told us that we would have to read the newspaper everyday for quizzes in class, I legitimately thought he was joking. The idea seemed ludicrous given the access to news we have through alternative outlets in this day and age. But he was dead serious, and next thing I know I'm getting a subscription to the Tampa Bay Times. What seemed to be just another thing for me to do everyday for school actually turned out to be the learning experience.
Becoming more in tune during class
Maybe it was because I was caught up on daily news, or maybe my professors were suddenly making more reference to current events more often, but reading the newspaper everyday made me realize exactly how much current events ties into our classes and curricula– especially in discussion based classes. Your Organic Chemistry II professor isn't likely to bring up the latest presidential debate but a professor in an ethics or humanities class sure is. Being caught up on the news just helps you understand what they're saying right away instead of having that glazed over look like everyone else in class.
Getting more reliable news
There is only so much we can take in by clicking "like" on Buzzfeed News or skimming the homepage of Huffington Post. Reading the newspaper usually gives you a more informative view into the happenings of the world and often a less biased. It's damn near impossible to avoid bias in the media but the nature of the newspaper is definitely a lot less click bait and more pure fact.
Having a more educated opinion
We've all got opinions and they're all formulated based on the things we experience, and the things we hear and see around us. The abundance of opinion is also evident in the paragraphs of Facebook statuses when everybody suddenly decides they've become a scholar on immigration and foreign policy. Rather than exclaiming thoughts based on one emotional reaction to an event in the world, reading the newspaper gave me another avenue to a current event rather than through a meme on Facebook barely even getting the facts right.
Staying in touch with the elections
This one's a big one given the upcoming elections. It was almost guaranteed that there would be a piece about one of the GOP candidates, the next ridiculous thing Donald Trump said, and of course Madam Secretary's emails. The constant news about the elections helped me keep up with the debates and listen to them with a more educated ear. I may not know who I'm voting for yet, but I know who I'm not.
Being informed
Obvious right? But important nonetheless and highly overlooked in our generation. It's said that we live in a world of distractions and the saying isn't wrong. Some of us pay more attention to the new snapchat filters than the Syrian refugee crisis. We don't have to empathize and sympathize with every single event in the world, but we sure do owe it to ourselves to know about it. It only enriches your mind and let's you have a valuable two cents in a conversation.
So the grand question may be whether I will continue reading the newspaper everyday. The answer is probably not. Sadly, I still see it as another thing I have to pay for, but that does not mean that I am conceding my desire to absorb valuable news through valuable sources. If I learned anything this semester, it's the importance of being a critical consumer of news.
