Binary

I spent today pondering how different my news consumption is depending on whether I’m flipping through the newspaper or browsing the same media source online. Paging through the traditional paper source means being exposed to articles and headlines I might not otherwise see if I’m clicking through webpages intent on hunting down specific information or breaking news.

The possible side effects of an imminent demise of the print version of the newspaper is something our society should be concerned about because “Extensive research on how we make choices in our media consumption, and what psychological and circumstantial factors are involved in choosing one piece of information over another, yields conflicting results. This includes many studies on the theory of “selective exposure” which proposes that “individuals often systematically prefer information that is consistent with their beliefs, attitudes, or decisions and, in contrast, neglect inconsistent information” (Fischer et al, 2008).”