What's in your News Feed?

Whenever someone will ask me about this, I feel funny. Well, first being a Journalism graduate, I have this idea that I need to always have a newspaper in hand. Be the one to report about the news and so on.
But I am not.

I think it's safe to say that my dad reads more of the hardcopy version than I do.

I don't read the newspaper but I am super engrossed in getting short tweets via Twitter, news alerts via Facebook (yes, I know they are kind of reliable for me) and compressed news feeds via email.

When I was in Dubai, I subscribed to Arabianbusiness.com, would surf the major dailies like GulfNews and The National. This is to keep me informed of what is happening in the country and if there are any upcoming events that I may want to visit or try. Their news is different from how we handle reporting here in the Philippines. They do not disclose the names of the people involved in a crime scene even if convicted or arrested. They will mask it and identify the person via his initials. Fortunately or unfortunately, you will know about that person if you are associated with him or her.

However, I can say that from over time, some dailies have changed the way they report the news. The only thing is, there is really not a lot of juicy stuff to report about. I guess the crime rate there is contained and there's not a lot of natural disasters that take place (not that we want that to happen).

Now that we are back here in the Philippines, I am currently subscribed to Philippine Star and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The thing with our news companies is that they report news by the minute or by the hour because true enough a lot of events do happen in this country of ours. May it be big or small, every information counts because we Filipinos are emphatic and some do like the drama (you have to admit).

Though when I get too tired about the ever-fluctuating crime rate, I resort to reading the Opinion section of these news feeds or their Lifestyle section but still online.

I don't know if it's because it's easier to maneuver through our gadgets.

What about you? What do you prefer as a medium?

Best and Worst Cities to Live 2013

(link and story can be found here) 

I was browsing through my emails and saw the link about the Best and Worst Cities to Live for 2013.  What I have noticed is most of them are places in Canada and Australia. 

Initially, hooray because my brother is living on the city that holds the 3rd spot (Vancouver, Canada). My brother and his entire family landed in Canada a couple of months ago. They are still on the "adjusting period" and I am glad that they are able to connect with some relatives and friends way back in high school (God really has His ways doesn't he?). 

I just noticed that there was no explanation on what were the criteria for recognising them as the best and worst cities to live in. 

Looking at the worst cities, it seems the criteria was based on the current situations the cities have right now. 

Now, I wonder when will the cities of the Philippines take one of the Top 10 spot? =) 

Reading the news

How do you get your latest news feeds? Is it by reading the paper online? Holding a the latest edition of the newspaper or do you rely in Twitter like I do?

I don't know if you can consider me as a "person on the go" but I am always out and about of my seat. Lunch break is all about the whats and whys in the office so reading the news has never been part of my daily routine however when people tweet about them, that is the time I get curious.

I read the tweets and at the same time, try searching this online.

That's my news and I feel guilty because while I am subscribed to newsletters telling me the highlights, I still do not consider it as one.

Weird ain't it.

I just noticed that while I was purging my emails in Yahoo, I have a lot of unread newsletters from Arabianbusiness.com, my go-to for news bits and more. I am not sure if this is because I am not interested in what's happening with the Gulf (a lot of times, my manager would give me tidbits of what's happening around the globe and my look "priceless" --- because I'm totally clueless!) or I am just busy about my own thoughts.

I am now making the executive decision to unsubscribe and urge myself to read more - be it local or foreign.

Being a citizen of the world, I think we should all make it a habit to watch / read / listen to the news. I know it's not really one of the happiest things to do but it should be done.

I hope to become more active in doing so --- there! another goal for 2013! :)

What about you? How updated are you? Hope to hear from someone... anyone?

- Moi -