OK guys, I know I talk about work a lot, like, a lot, but my day job basically consumes my life.
And I love it.
Since I work in the media, several of my (non-newsroom) friends hit me up a lot for reading recommendations, and I’m happy to give them! My job basically requires me to stay informed 24/7, and since I’m spending a little more than 40 hours a week reading news, I like to think I’ve got a pretty good finger on current events.
Since it’s a question I’m asked a lot, I wanted to take a minute to share where I get my news and what I love to read.
Let’s start local (Chicago/ Illinois/ Midwest) content. Of course, I read the Chicago Tribune daily. I read/ view (almost) every piece of original content (ie: not wire) our reporters and photographers create as part of my job. (If you didn’t know, I work as a digital editor to populate our website homepage and manage social media.) I flip through the physical paper every day I’m in the office and read the stories on our site while editing them. I also really love DNAInfo for niche neighborhood pieces that the Tribune doesn’t focus on. I have unlimited web and app access to the Tribune (which runs $7 a month) through my employer, and I read DNA both online and via the free newsletter delivered to my apartment.
Now, let’s talk about national and world news. I get most of my nation/world news while working wire shifts, which I do every workday morning for about three or so hours. If you’re not familiar with the industry, that means I’m surfing news site exchanges (the Tribune is contracted with Associated Press and Washington Post/Bloomberg, as well as other Tronc papers) to get content for our site. I consume most of my U.S. and global news while doing this. However, I also personally subscribe to the New York Times (I’m on a $7 a month promotional plan) for unlimited web and app access. My job does offer a free login to the NYT, but it doesn’t come with app access. To me, that $7 is worth the convenience since I spend a fair amount of time reading the NYT app when I’m not in front of a desktop computer. I really like WaPo for national political news, and NYT for global news and lifestyles pieces. Because I prefer to read my news rather than watch it, I’m not a big consumer of broadcast news. However, I do usually keep CNN running on my cubicle TV in the background while I’m at work, and I tune in to the channel for any big events/ speeches/ etc.
Because it’s 2017, let’s talk about social media, apps and push alerts. I have apps for most of the aforementioned sources (Tribune, NYT, WaPo, CNN and AP) on my phone mostly for the push alerts. If I’m being honest, the only apps I ever really open are the NYT and Tribune apps, and the NYT app is definitely my most-used. I also rely a lot on Twitter for my news. I follow a lot of publications and journalists on the site, so I also get a lot of my news from my Twitter feed. For me, Twitter is a really great way of rounding out my news consumption, and exposing myself to publications and pieces I might not otherwise see.
And finally, while it doesn’t fall into a certain category here, I figured I’d throw in my magazine subscription. I have a physical Vogue magazine subscription ($19 a year through Barnes & Noble).
That’s about it! Keep in mind I don’t exclusively rely on those sites. I’m a firm believer that consuming a variety of news from a variety of sources is important in order to keep a broad perspective. So, even though I excluded a lot of publications — Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, ProPublica, USA Today, NPR, etc., etc. — I do still read them from time-to-time. However, they just aren’t part of my overall day-to-day news consumption routine.
Where do you get your news? I’m genuinely curious to know, so list out your top favorite sources in the comments!
