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The Attention Deficit News Cycle

Forget newspapers
Forget cable news
Forget bias slanted websites

Twitter is where it is at

I have become a news junkie and the odd thing about it is, I can't name more than ten journalists off the top of my head. I can however tell you who is in the know and who wants you to think you're in the know on Twitter.

Deciphering "news" is becoming a bit of an art form and it's extremely important to understand that when you're getting your news from Twitter, reading comprehension is of utmost importance. The difference between the words is and may, is the difference between innocence and guilt. It's become a tricky landscape, but for those of us with adult attention deficit disorder, brought on by this current news cycle, it's the key to understanding what is actually happening and what is being fed to our less inclined to investigate society.

Don't get me wrong, most of us who are immersed in this life of 24 hours news are missing out on things like friends, sunsets and cute cat videos, although those all act as buffers at times. The real question I ask myself is why? Why do some of us want to be so informed on a topic that frustrates us? For me, it's simple. I like the puzzle.

For every Louise Mensch, there's a Seth Abramson. For every Claude Taylor, there's a Jud Legum.. For every Scott Dworkin, there's.....well there's anyone who isn't doing this to make a buck. Retweets and likes are for FB and while RT do get a message out, it's easy to get sucked into the mindset that the tweets with the most activity are based in truth. Keywords are essential to sifting through the rubble, in this glut of information and mostly misinformation.

There's another way to find out which news is real and which is fake. Actual comments in context. If a weatherman said "It's rained for 20 days, but it's not raining now, but we can expect 20 more," and the news headlines quotes him as "It's not raining now," Hell, Noah wouldn't have built that ark.  What I'm saying is, if you hear something that fits your narrative, make sure you know the surrounding context. This ain't Bible school where you get to cherry pick the words in the sentence to condemn homosexuality, but still get your tattoos and eat shellfish. This is real life.

Much like ADD, I've gone off the rails, but maybe it's because I'm worried the eight to ten minutes I've taken to type this have made me miss @realdonaldtrump's latest tweet storm or a mega thread from Abramson or Mensch's latest demand for a Pulitzer. It's a wild time and the news is there for all of us. Just bring your sieve or strainers, because it's become like a job to actually know things in today's world.

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