
Ask HN: Why do you read news? - jaredwiener
What drives you to check the news, read an article, watch a video, or however else you consume news?  What do you get out of it?  Does it vary based on what kind of news it is?  (i.e. business news vs. political vs. tech blog?)
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mikestew
I read to remain an informed voter, and an informed investor. Don't care about
the Kardashians enough to even look up how to spell their name. Don't care
about popular sports (though I won't disparage those that like their
"sportsball"). Nope, in my increasingly old age I care about which asshole
needs to be voted out of office next time, and how can I make more money
through capital investments. The rest is trivial noise, and perhaps even
written to manipulate me.

That's not to say I don't enjoy a naughty little look at the occasional
personal interest story. Oh, okay, I'll just take a quick sneak and see who
Tom Cruise is sleeping with. But the vast, vast majority of the time the front
page of, say, the NYT will suffice.

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phailhaus
> though I won't disparage those that like their "sportsball"

...but you just did though? Your entire response is pretty disparaging and
patronizing of anyone who cares about different things from you.

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mikestew
If that's your take-away from my comment, I do wonder how you make it through
a workday, being so ready to take offense, without bursting into tears.

For the record, at worst I was shooting for irony, not offense.

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phailhaus
> without bursting into tears

Yeah see, this is what I'm talking about. You're being very rude,
condescending, and generally insufferable. It's possible to make your point
without insulting people. For example, things that you don't care about aren't
automatically "trivial noise".

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PerfectElement
Not the parent, but do we have to start every sentence with "IMHO"? To me it
was clear that they were stating their opinion, not trying to establish a
standard for what one should care about.

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phailhaus
It's less about it being an opinion and more about being respectful when
sharing it. Obviously it's fine not to care about sports or reality shows (I
don't either!), but he went out of his way to basically make fun of those who
do. In fact, he didn't have to mention others at all! His entire comment could
have been summed up as "I read news to make financial and political
decisions." No need to brag about how much you don't care about celebrities or
sports.

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toyg
Addiction. I grew up reading newspapers in the morning, which was my gateway
drug to bitesize information. When the first feed readers appeared, in the
late ‘90s, there was no going back.

Information is a hell of a drug.

~~~
jaredwiener
to continue with your analogy -- what are your withdrawal symptoms? is there a
FOMO built in?

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toyg
I feel slightly nervous the first day or two when I go on holiday in places
where I have to disconnect. After that, it’s fine. As soon as I manage to get
hold of a phone or newspaper i can read, though, it’s back in the tunnel.

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IronWolve
Check the news for any tech security issues and any new hot services or
software I dont know about.

Politics is just for kicks, because I know most of it is filtered and slanted
by its organization. Seems it takes a day or 2 before we get the real truth to
anything. The facts are normally too skewed and biased on release.

~~~
piocho
> Politics is just for kicks, because I know most of it is filtered and
> slanted by its organization. Seems it takes a day or 2 before we get the
> real truth to anything. The facts are normally too skewed and biased on
> release.

I'm totally agree with you. Most of the actual news articles are looking to
create some "buzz". I rather prefer waiting few days and read complete article
well structured that exposes the facts.

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bsvalley
Like Chris Sacca said a while back, news feeds should be a push and not a
pull. Also, majority of the people read news in order to kill time, which is
counter intuitive. I would think people would read news mostly to stay
informed with what's going on in the world. So to answer your question(s):

\- Why people read news? based on current data (do a quick google search) it
seems that people need to kill time.

\- Why would I read a specific article? Same as previous statement as well as
personal interests in the moment

\- Why would I watch a video? In my case I watch more videos than your average
person because I hate reading. It's just not efficient enough. So I'd most
likely consume video news rather than articles. Why would I click on a
specific video? This goes back to the 2 previous points...

~~~
jaredwiener
I think what I'm asking is a little deeper. It's a question I'm wrestling with
because I do it too -- I consider myself a news junkie. But WHY do we want to
be informed? What good is it to know whats happening? Especially if its
something happening far away to people I dont know -- I _AM_ interested, but
it doesnt make rational sense to me.

I think it is a little more complicated than just wasting time. You can waste
time in lots of ways -- so there has to be SOME draw to news.

~~~
mbrock
I think it has to do with the sense of participation in _imagined communities_
([https://people.ucalgary.ca/~bakardji/community/imagined_comm...](https://people.ucalgary.ca/~bakardji/community/imagined_communities.html)).
That's kind of why I read the news from my home country even though I don't
live there anymore.

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randomuser80
Personally, consuming news is a source of entertainment and a topic for small-
talk.

If you interface with clients or coworkers on a daily basis, "small-talk"
improves relationships among your peers. Not to mention, you seem more
personable and likeable - traits that are revered in the modern workplace.

This isn't a blanket endorsement to start talking politics in the workplace,
I'm simply saying that being well-versed in current events has value.

~~~
perilunar
You don’t even need to be well-versed. If you just read the headlines you can
ask people to fill you in. Some people just love to tell you what they know ;)

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jaredwiener
To summarize some of the answers here:

\- Direct personal gain -- i.e. information for political engagement,
investing...

\- Fear of missing out

\- To be able to participate in conversations with others

\- Lack of something better to do.

Anything else?

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tonyedgecombe
It's a bad habit, I really should stop because I gain nothing from it.

~~~
swah
Sometimes I'll go the whole week without news by accident, and then wonder why
I'm feeling "so positive and energized recently"...

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tenebrisalietum
I read news, sparingly and often not to intensely, simply because everyone
else does and social interaction is required to survive in society.

Some people react to current news, or let it affect their judgement, and it
helps me sometimes predict or understand people's behavior. This is especially
true of local or political news. It's always good to keep an ear on the
grapevine even if most of it is garbage simply to know where many people's
mind will be.

Other people like to talk about news, bringing it up for small talk, and
therefore having some semblance of knowledge of current headlines lets me feel
and give the impression of not being an outcast.

Oftentimes for me, if a headline catches my interest, I'll read the story, and
then try to find out what really happened myself. This is rare.

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arbol
Why am I reading these comments? ^_^

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abledon
Cause it’s socially acceptable to read bews multiple times a day in my browser
tab as a form of mental rest from programming rather than getting up and
walking around the office building every 45 minutes

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grecht
I don't understand people who don't read the news. Do they also not vote, as
they cannot form their own political opinion? In reality they probably do, but
are susceptible to populism, be it right-wing, left-wing, green or what else.
Or they take on their parents' or friends' political views.

Sometimes party programs sound just great. "More of this, more of that, less
of the bad stuff". I want to be able to cut through the bullshit and make
decisions based on my knowledge of the world. And I'm curious about it,
anyways! That's why I read the news.

Everyone should read a prestigious newspaper. But especially educated people
who hold higher positions with more responsibility, whose actions have a
higher impact than those of the average citizen, should stay well-informed.

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spondyl
Fear of missing out on something interesting or worth knowing ;)

~~~
jaredwiener
What do you consider interesting/worth knowing -- and why?

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wolfpwner
Boredom at work

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AudioBookKing
Fear and greed.

~~~
jaredwiener
Serious question -- but like looking for an edge in investments/business?

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nodivbyzero
I use rss to read the news

