Why Read the News!
Sometimes I wish I could just scroll down to the next
page of the news story I am reading by blinking my
eye, rather than using my hand to click a button. :)
The picture below, I am told is my Expression of the Year! It is not my most flattering picture but it has "internet addict" written all over it. I know I look like I am reading something that's giving me a headache, but I am actually enjoying a write-up on Francis Bacon's art.
Last year, I transitioned to using the net more to consume entertainment than to make social conversation... which means I don't quite need both hands on the keyboard! Perhaps, we all made that transition. Are you not consuming more news now than you did before?
But what has all this information overload done for us?
Last year's news stories should be relatively easy to sort out. Before I started this post, I quickly did a rundown of the US news I followed, and found an infographic that agreed with me. I am sure there are better lists out there, but this highly general graphic uses terms like "Obama Administration" to speak of everything from stimulus spending to healthcare reform to Obama's family getting a dog or him winning the peace prize :) So it is unlikely that it does not include anything of importance... and is perfect for superficial musing.
For instance, I was thinking about what a similar graphic on India-specific news stories of 2009 would include: The Indian general elections, the telangana issue, YSR's death, Satyam scam, followed by Tech Mahindra's acquisition of Satyam, the Liberhan report leak, dispute between the Ambani brothers over the pricing of natural gas, the Yeddy-Reddy(brothers) battle in Karnataka and allegations of illegal mining, India's inflation dipping below zero, the the rape charge against Shiney Ahuja, the sex scandal involving ND Tiwari, the land-grabbing allegation on PD Dinakaran, public criticism of Mayawati's statue mania, Pankaj Advani winning the World Billiard's Championship... there is also news related to terrorism... the maoism insurgency...!
Then there are other world news stories whose omission from the infographic is perplexing: The copenhagen summit, the debt crisis in dubai, the ethnic conflict in Xinjiang between the muslims and Hans, the costly (not just deadly) Nigerian oil war, the beginning of LTTE's end (Prabhakaran's death), the beginning of Pakistan's onslaught against the Taliban, the Mexican govt's war against the drug cartels, the Iranian ethnic unrest, Buffett's deal with Goldman Sachs (and other interesting business deals or "no-deals" as would apply), GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy, Roger Federer's French open/Wimbledon win, Michael Jackson's death, Edward Kennedy's death, Ford Hood shootings, the development of the AIDS vaccine, the lifting of the ban on stem-cell research, finding water on the moon, the discovery of solar systems much like our own, the discovery of Ardi - the 4.4 million year old skeleton, the decoding of the human genome, scientists levitating a mouse, the launch of Windows 7, the launch of Nook, Steve Jobs' much anticipated comeback, Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, and MySpace losing its popularity...
I wonder if all of this news is connected somehow. Can we make sense of all of the global events using one blanket statement.... like 2009 is the Year of Crises ...
Is 2010 turning out to be the Year of Resolutions or Re-solutions?
Perhaps what is more important to address is what we gain from following news the way we do! At the expense of sounding preachy and putting people off with my blanket statement of immense wisdom :P, the one thing I gained from the elections in the US and India last year is an appreciation for liberal democratic ideals. When you see the way these elections have amassed support from millions of people, (in some ways more dramatically than in the previous years), you can't help but wonder how or where you fit into this participative process (and if you do at all!). Likewise, I am also suddenly experiencing a lack of democratic freedom! Last year, it was annoying having to follow the elections both in the US and in India and not be able to vote or take part in the process beyond a point! I suppose it is true that we learn the value of what we had only after we've lost it!
On the plus side, because I can't vote anywhere, I feel like I might as well observe and react to every democratic process world over... like the looming UK general election, which is so entertaining!
I wonder too, if I will learn the value of this information overload only when I suddenly experience the lack of information... which immediately makes me think about internet censorship in China and how the country challenges our way of thinking about freedom... progress... technology... education... among other things!
When I began this post, I didn't really want it to become a full-blown summary of the biggest news stories in 2009. I was merely trying to list out some big stories so that I can make sense of what I've been reading. I also wanted to see how news from the previous year spills into the new year, and if in fact they are as relevant today as they were before... or if we have moved on! But it ended up being expository! Pardon my idiocy :)
The picture below, I am told is my Expression of the Year! It is not my most flattering picture but it has "internet addict" written all over it. I know I look like I am reading something that's giving me a headache, but I am actually enjoying a write-up on Francis Bacon's art.
Last year, I transitioned to using the net more to consume entertainment than to make social conversation... which means I don't quite need both hands on the keyboard! Perhaps, we all made that transition. Are you not consuming more news now than you did before?
But what has all this information overload done for us?
Last year's news stories should be relatively easy to sort out. Before I started this post, I quickly did a rundown of the US news I followed, and found an infographic that agreed with me. I am sure there are better lists out there, but this highly general graphic uses terms like "Obama Administration" to speak of everything from stimulus spending to healthcare reform to Obama's family getting a dog or him winning the peace prize :) So it is unlikely that it does not include anything of importance... and is perfect for superficial musing.
For instance, I was thinking about what a similar graphic on India-specific news stories of 2009 would include: The Indian general elections, the telangana issue, YSR's death, Satyam scam, followed by Tech Mahindra's acquisition of Satyam, the Liberhan report leak, dispute between the Ambani brothers over the pricing of natural gas, the Yeddy-Reddy(brothers) battle in Karnataka and allegations of illegal mining, India's inflation dipping below zero, the the rape charge against Shiney Ahuja, the sex scandal involving ND Tiwari, the land-grabbing allegation on PD Dinakaran, public criticism of Mayawati's statue mania, Pankaj Advani winning the World Billiard's Championship... there is also news related to terrorism... the maoism insurgency...!
Then there are other world news stories whose omission from the infographic is perplexing: The copenhagen summit, the debt crisis in dubai, the ethnic conflict in Xinjiang between the muslims and Hans, the costly (not just deadly) Nigerian oil war, the beginning of LTTE's end (Prabhakaran's death), the beginning of Pakistan's onslaught against the Taliban, the Mexican govt's war against the drug cartels, the Iranian ethnic unrest, Buffett's deal with Goldman Sachs (and other interesting business deals or "no-deals" as would apply), GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy, Roger Federer's French open/Wimbledon win, Michael Jackson's death, Edward Kennedy's death, Ford Hood shootings, the development of the AIDS vaccine, the lifting of the ban on stem-cell research, finding water on the moon, the discovery of solar systems much like our own, the discovery of Ardi - the 4.4 million year old skeleton, the decoding of the human genome, scientists levitating a mouse, the launch of Windows 7, the launch of Nook, Steve Jobs' much anticipated comeback, Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, and MySpace losing its popularity...
I wonder if all of this news is connected somehow. Can we make sense of all of the global events using one blanket statement.... like 2009 is the Year of Crises ...
Is 2010 turning out to be the Year of Resolutions or Re-solutions?
Perhaps what is more important to address is what we gain from following news the way we do! At the expense of sounding preachy and putting people off with my blanket statement of immense wisdom :P, the one thing I gained from the elections in the US and India last year is an appreciation for liberal democratic ideals. When you see the way these elections have amassed support from millions of people, (in some ways more dramatically than in the previous years), you can't help but wonder how or where you fit into this participative process (and if you do at all!). Likewise, I am also suddenly experiencing a lack of democratic freedom! Last year, it was annoying having to follow the elections both in the US and in India and not be able to vote or take part in the process beyond a point! I suppose it is true that we learn the value of what we had only after we've lost it!
On the plus side, because I can't vote anywhere, I feel like I might as well observe and react to every democratic process world over... like the looming UK general election, which is so entertaining!
I wonder too, if I will learn the value of this information overload only when I suddenly experience the lack of information... which immediately makes me think about internet censorship in China and how the country challenges our way of thinking about freedom... progress... technology... education... among other things!
When I began this post, I didn't really want it to become a full-blown summary of the biggest news stories in 2009. I was merely trying to list out some big stories so that I can make sense of what I've been reading. I also wanted to see how news from the previous year spills into the new year, and if in fact they are as relevant today as they were before... or if we have moved on! But it ended up being expository! Pardon my idiocy :)
