A professor recently asked my to defend my choice to read The New York Times daily. I typically start my day by clicking over to the Web site or - when my subscription restarts - sitting down to the paper and a bowl of cereal. I’ll admit to spending the most time with the front section, rarely reading through the metro, sports or entertainment sections. Lately, I’ll look for the latest news on the campaign first. I’ll then move to anything else featured on the front, jumping my way inside. It’s there where I find The Times to be most informative.
Though there are more ghosts of foreign bureaus than actual bureaus themselves these days, The Times still manages to provide in-depth international reporting every day. Though I may have read the headline the previous day online, I have come to expect a meticulously thorough account of the news the following day by The Times. That, I feel, remains the paper’s biggest asset. Yes - headlines and news can be gobbled up from thousands of places across the Internet. But few can provide such contextual, detailed analyses in such a short amount of time. And a good reputation doesn’t hurt.
As much as I value The Times as a good source, I would not make the argument that it’s the definitive - or even always the best - source. As a news consumer and as a journalist, there’s nothing better than multiple sources. I wouldn’t write about a robbery using just one source - say, the police. Even if all the information that source provides is accurate, part of the picture is missing. What about the company that owns the bank? What about passers by? What about the customer who has just cashed a check when he was pushed to the floor? In the same way, I know I’m not going to get the most complete picture of the day’s news without consulting multiple news outlets with a variety of perspectives.
The Times is a great place to start, but these days, almost anywhere is at least a good place to start. The more people informed of the day’s news, the better, even if it’s just the headlines. The problem is that fewer and fewer people are taking the time to read in-depth about issues and the news, and spending the time to read multiple sources is almost out of the question. So the more someone can get in one place, the better, and that’s why The Times continues to serve as my daily starting place.