Minesweeper used to be my computer pastime. And the height of this addiction was when I played on breaks for all-nighters rushing college papers. This was back in the day when I had to contend with a dial-up internet connection, and I didn’t have much use for the internet except research and mail.
In the offline world, the equivalent to this would be my love for newspapers. I take my time going through all the articles, marveling in the ads, and cutting out those articles that inspire me. Or provoke me.
Now, I have unlimited Internet, thus, unlimited access to various sources of distractions. But still. I go back to that first love of minesweepers and printed newspapers. It’s familiar, it’s comforting, and it just might be forever part of my procrastination process.
I occasionally read papers from their websites. And I admit it’s just amazing how I now have access to papers from all over. But for local papers, nothing beats the smell of newsprint and being able to take in the whole page of a broadsheet in one go. Just now, I read a feature article in the Business World on how Asia defies the global newspaper meltdown. (Click here for online version).
It’s been reported that the trend towards online news has been slower in Asia where newspapers remain popular, including Japan which has the world’s highest newspaper readership. The keyword here would be slower, because fact remains that there is indeed a shift to online and video news.
What accounts for the difference - is it a cultural thing? Or is it an infrastructure and online reach issue? For the Philippines, it may be more of the latter. But it seems that as Asians, traditions, including how we read our news, would always play a factor.
Entry No. 14
Rachelle Mayuga
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