Blog 2: News Sources Used by my Peers

Before I started reading any of our classmate’s blogs, I knew the main source of the news would be from the Internet. Websites that my fellow students visited for current events were BBC, the New York Times, MSN, and CNN. Classmates visited BBC if they wanted to read about politics and current events around the world. The New York Times was read to keep up with sports and current events in the United States. Some students did mention occasionally reading a newspaper or watching the news on T.V. The result from this survey is evidence that the Internet is not decreasing a person’s literacy. First of all, in order to use the internet, you have to have at least a sixth grade reading level. The websites which my classmates visited may have varied in reading levels. MSN may require less literacy skills than the New York Times, but hey, at least you’re reading something. These websites contain millions of characters of text and is available to you instantly and free, unless you feel like subscribing so you can read even more stories. Thompson and Clive would both agree that the internet is a major source of literacy through news articles and videos of current event coverage streaming online. Reading the news online also saves trees! You don’t have to buy a bulky newspaper. Also, if you have bad eyesight you can zoom in and out of a webpage to accommodate your eyes.