If I was to confess an addiction it would be to
reading/listening to/watching news and current affairs. It started innocently –
as a cadet journalist I had to start each work day with at least one story
idea. So listening to the radio news and quickly perusing the morning newspaper
was essential. Knowing what was in the news, and the latest update on events, is
essential to the working reporter, so a constant ear to the radio or eye on the
TV supplemented the morning routine. Then
there were the newspapers and magazines - woe betide the reporter who repeated
a story that had already appeared in print.
In retirement this addiction is impossible to shake. My daily
fix is: 5.30am ABC local radio - good
for weather; plane arrivals; rail, train or bus dramas; and general current
topics; 6am to 9am Breakfast on Radio National for in-depth current affairs,
except while I’m at the gym where I watch ABC News 24. Then RN’s Life Matters at
9am followed by Books and Arts Daily at 10am – both excellent for social
affairs and arts news, views and events. At 11am a change back to local radio
for Conversations with Richard Fidler who unearths some amazing gems with his
skilled interviewing style. Then either Local or RN for the News and The World
Today, and later Phillip Adams and PM. There are online news websites both
local and overseas to be read, and at night the ABC TV News, 7:30, Q & A,
Four Corners, and programs such as SBS’s Insight and Dateline. New technology
has fed the addiction allowing me to listen to pod casts of programs I may miss
– such as Geraldine Doogue’s Saturday Extra which coincides with my weekly date
with the Weekend Australian – and the Foxtel feature which allows for two
programs to be recorded simultaneously. And I haven’t mentioned the 24-hour
news cycle!
A growing dilemma is the trend to paywalls for the major
newspaper websites. I don’t begrudge paying for content but having become hooked
on clicking happily from The Courier Mail, to the Sydney Morning Herald, to the
New York Times, The (London) Times, the (British) Guardian or numerous other
sources how can I choose which ones to pay for? Is cold turkey on the menu?
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| The New York Times ...can I go without my regular fix? |
You and Bill would make a good pair he overdoses on online news from around the world and TV news. We rarely listen to the radio except in the car. You really have it bad. I hope you don't have to pay to read the news on line.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment about my header. It is easy to take good photos when the light is right and the sky is dramatic, not so easy from the back seat of a moving car which is how I took that one.
Your header is pretty darn good to.
I usually answer questions in my comments by email but your comments don't arrive by email as well as on the blog. This can be turned on somewhere if you want . I think it is in Settings.
Diane is right, I read several UK papers, tne CM and Brisbane Times every morning before breakfast. I like to be up with current affairs.
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