A Fresh Cup of News

Lost among the news of reporter layoffs and newspapers issuing their last edition is an interesting finding from the Pew Center for People and the Press, as recently reported in a Wall Street Journal column: we are consuming more news, not less.

According to the Pew study, we are spending more time accessing news than a decade ago.  The difference, not surprisingly, is where we are getting that news. Among those in their 30’s and 40’s, as many people now read news through social networking sites as those who read newspapers.  Rather than let an editor we’ve never met decide “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” we are looking to our friends to filter the news for us.

Most of us at LT Public Relations enjoy both, supplementing our hard copy of The Oregonian or the Portland Business Journal with news feeds from Twitter and Facebook. The hard copy versions don’t tell us what is trending and don’t let us know what our friends are interested in sharing with the world, but they do encourage us to read all of the news…trendy or not.

The Pew study also highlights that while most traditional media is struggling with making a profit with these new distribution channels, it is anything but dead.  If anything, the news they produce is being seen by more people than ever before; just in different way.

We are lucky to live in the time of traditional and new media. The convenience of instant and tailored news is appreciated, but it is nice to open a newspaper and see the name of a favorite columnist and know that what you are reading is coming from a credible journalist that you’ve learned to trust.

Besides, no matter how shiny, fast and pretty they are, spending a grey and rainy Sunday morning in Portland with an iPad and a cup of coffee on the couch just isn’t the same as the smell and feel of the good ol’ Sunday paper.

Tags: All the News That’s Fit to Print, Facebook, iPad, LT PR, Pew Center for People and the Press, Portland Business Journal, PR, public relations, The Oregonian, twitter, Wall Street Journal