Thoughts on Local news sources
(Just a mostly unfiltered thought I have been having lately. Maybe I will come back to brush it up and make it look nicer)
I feel like sometimes its enough just to think about things. Just to think about an idea, concept, problem, or whatever, without having to look everything up. Have the time to organize your thoughts, exercise your logic, understanding, and knowledge-base. I have been having these thoughts from time to time about various subjects. I will think about them, but if they become persistent then I will look deeper in the research. There is so much to think, do, and feel nowadays you have to be choosey with what you're giving your attention to.
An example of this is a chat I had with a friend about the role of radios and newspapers in the digital age. Radios and newspapers focused on local news, the kind that mattered to the people of the town/city. They would talk of church activities, local infrastructure changes, unveilings, general events, and school closures (just to name a few). They also did global news, they would keep people up to date on international or national news that mattered, but it wasn't the focus (I think, I may be wrong). Both media did the same thing, local first, global afterwards. I feel like presently it is the opposite. I miss local updates on events and gatherings, and get the ever-stressing global news that doesn't always apply to me. The friend I was talking to, his girlfriend used to get overloaded with stress from this 24hrs global news.
I have been trying to be more thoughtful when it comes to giving my attention to things. Sometimes I slip up and watch 3-hours of Internet horror ARGs or whatever, but I still try. I had started buying a newspaper once a week to read for news. I have heard from people that it SHOULD be less biased then Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, etc. news sources. I'm sure its partly true, because these people have degrees and experience in journalism (not saying they are completely unbiased, almost no one is). I haven't picked it up again, but I enjoyed it. Reading the articles I thought was interesting, then reading the ones I thought were less so and still enjoying it. Doing the crosswords, reading the funnies -- which I will say, internet comics are leagues better than these old fashioned "aren't these Gen-Z/Gen-Alpha kids crazy with their phones!?!?!"-- and I have found myself thinking about this stuff more then if I were to get it digitally through a social media platform. I find the radio and newspapers are limited in information. I am not scrolling for days, I get what they give me and I absorb the information, but then it is done. I can go on to other things.