Don't get stuck in a digital tunnel - The value of all media formats
If I'm honest, it was reading a Seth Godin post a few months back that probably inspired me to write this post, or partly at least. The idea had been with me for a while, after enjoying reading the Sunday paper pretty much front to back one weekend.
I want to write about the benefits that can be gained by spreading your time you spend on reading, watching and listening to all formats of media, not just focusing on the internet as a source of inspiration and knowledge.
The number of ideas that I have that spring from particularly the radio and books, but also newspapers and film, are indication enough for me that these formats should always been included in my weekly ingest.
While the internet and its every changing content is free of some of the social requirements that are at times associated with writing books, or perhaps appearing on the radio, it can at times, be labourious finding the rich content you seek.
Compare this to the BBC Radio 4 morning news programme that will include all the important news items of the day, and one or two interesting features. Often it's the interesting features that lead me to conduct further investigations. But all of this information is usually absorbed while I'm making my sandwiches for the day, how efficient!
I then have my hour long commute to work by train, I try and mix my books up for the journey, with a fiction book one week, perhaps a business related book following that, and then maybe an autobiography or something factually based. I love reading books, and it's one of the few benefits of the expensive and long train commute I do every day.
I sometimes find myself rubbing my hands with glee as I hear of further allocation of media spend moving from press to digital, as the digital revolution continues. However, I rarely celebrate the demise of newspapers, local, national and international (there are some exemptions to this).
Newspapers are a fantastic source of knowledge and there's nothing I enjoy more than finding the time to sit on down on a Sunday and relax, whilst leafing my way through a paper, whiling my day away with copious quantities of tea.
In particular I've been finding the Financial Times a good source of interesting and informed debate on various wide ranging subjects recently. I also discovered the Monocle an interesting read on a train to London just last week (I know, I'm a late starter on this magazine).
So, while I'll be the first to hold my hands up and rave about the wonders of quality content on the internet, and the social and political freedom of speech that can be enjoyed by most of its users, I will also celebrate the benefits that can be gained from other media.
Mixing your exposure to a variety of media formats from radio, print media, books, music and even television can greatly increase your insight to either news items or other social, political or evolutionary debates.
Obviously you don't get the instantaneous nature of the social media interfaces we all use now. But the reflection required to present some of the feature articles in press and radio, or in depth analysis in a book, can only be found in good blog content on-line.
So, in our haste to stay in touch with the latest developments, don't ever discount the benefits that can be gained from searching and exposing yourself to a wider variety of media sources other than just the internet.
Variety, after all, is the spice of life.
I want to write about the benefits that can be gained by spreading your time you spend on reading, watching and listening to all formats of media, not just focusing on the internet as a source of inspiration and knowledge.
The number of ideas that I have that spring from particularly the radio and books, but also newspapers and film, are indication enough for me that these formats should always been included in my weekly ingest.
While the internet and its every changing content is free of some of the social requirements that are at times associated with writing books, or perhaps appearing on the radio, it can at times, be labourious finding the rich content you seek.
Compare this to the BBC Radio 4 morning news programme that will include all the important news items of the day, and one or two interesting features. Often it's the interesting features that lead me to conduct further investigations. But all of this information is usually absorbed while I'm making my sandwiches for the day, how efficient!
I then have my hour long commute to work by train, I try and mix my books up for the journey, with a fiction book one week, perhaps a business related book following that, and then maybe an autobiography or something factually based. I love reading books, and it's one of the few benefits of the expensive and long train commute I do every day.
I sometimes find myself rubbing my hands with glee as I hear of further allocation of media spend moving from press to digital, as the digital revolution continues. However, I rarely celebrate the demise of newspapers, local, national and international (there are some exemptions to this).
Newspapers are a fantastic source of knowledge and there's nothing I enjoy more than finding the time to sit on down on a Sunday and relax, whilst leafing my way through a paper, whiling my day away with copious quantities of tea.
In particular I've been finding the Financial Times a good source of interesting and informed debate on various wide ranging subjects recently. I also discovered the Monocle an interesting read on a train to London just last week (I know, I'm a late starter on this magazine).
So, while I'll be the first to hold my hands up and rave about the wonders of quality content on the internet, and the social and political freedom of speech that can be enjoyed by most of its users, I will also celebrate the benefits that can be gained from other media.
Mixing your exposure to a variety of media formats from radio, print media, books, music and even television can greatly increase your insight to either news items or other social, political or evolutionary debates.
Obviously you don't get the instantaneous nature of the social media interfaces we all use now. But the reflection required to present some of the feature articles in press and radio, or in depth analysis in a book, can only be found in good blog content on-line.
So, in our haste to stay in touch with the latest developments, don't ever discount the benefits that can be gained from searching and exposing yourself to a wider variety of media sources other than just the internet.
Variety, after all, is the spice of life.
Labels: digital media, newspapers, quality content, radio
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posted by Ed Richardson at
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