Gideon’s Media Diary

I”was”shoveling”another”foot”of”snow”off”my”driveway”Sunday”morning”when”a” passing”car”slowed”to”a crawl.”Suddenly,”two”objects,”flung”from”the”driver’s”side” window, arced”high”over”the”car’s”roof like”Kareem”Abdul”Jabbar”hook”shots. The”Boston”Globe”and”New”York”Times”had”arrived.”In”print. Despite”the”blizzard. I”was”so”overjoyed,”I”highHfived”Waldemar,”the”delivery”driver.” Sunday”is”the”one”day”of”the”week”that I”am”still”able”to”enjoy”the”ritual”of”reading” newspapers,”unadulterated”by”apps,”social”media,”and”other”digitalHage”johnnysH comeHlately. Keeping”a”media”diary revealed”to”me”how”much”my”media” consumption”habits”have”changed”the”rest”of”the”week.”While”I”still”rely”heavily”on” newspapers”for”my”news”those”other”mornings”– both”in”print”and”online”– I”multiH task”over”breakfast,”clicking”on”links”delivered”via”Twitter”and”daily”eHmail” newsletters,”and”tweeting”and”retweeting”stories”that”interest”me.”I”consume”more” news”during”my”commute”– NPR”and”the”BBC”over”the”car”radio,”Twitter,”Facebook, and”eHmail”while”riding”the”bus”or”T.” Perhaps”the”biggest”change,”though,”is”that”I”already”know”many”of”the”morning” headlines”the”night”before,”thanks”to”newspaper”websites,”breaking”news”alerts”on” my”phone,”and”social”media.”So”in”the”morning,”I”look”for”context”and”explanatory” stories. Times”Media”Critic”David”Carr’s”untimely”death”was”a”case”in”point: I”got”the”news”from”an alert”sent”to”my”phone”Thursday”night”by”the”Times.”I” immediately”opened”the”NYT”Now”app”to”read”the”short”item”posted”there.”During” the”evening,”I”checked”Twitter”periodically”and”followed”the”torrent”of”140H character”tributes.”Before”bed,”I”read”the”full”obit”on”the NYT”website. On”Saturday” morning,”I”read”two”Globe”stories”in”print,”an”interview”with”Carr”just”before”his” death”and”a”story”about”his”first”semester”teaching”at”BU.”Finally,”I”read”The”Media” Equation”column”in”Monday’s”Times”(again”in”print),”Carr’s”old”column,”which”also” focused”on”his”teaching. This”exercise”also”showed”me”that”I”still”get”most”of”my”information”from”words,” written”or”spoken.”The”main”exception”this”week:”maps”showing”expected”snowfall.” I”watched”only”one”video”–”of”my”nephew”and”his”cat”playing”the”piano.”” Here is a breakdown of my media consumption:

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