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What It’s like to Only Get News from Print Newspapers for Two Months

“Now I am not just less anxious and less addicted to the news, I am more widely informed (though there are some blind spots). And I’m embarrassed about how much free time I have — in two months, I managed to read half a dozen books, took up pottery and (I think) became a more attentive husband and father.”

This one’s (ironically) been spreading around the Internet and for good reason.

In a New York Times column, Farhad Manjoo explains what he learned from only getting news from print newspapers for two months.

He calls it a “life changing” experiment and breaks down his three main observations: Print newspapers primarily deliver news while online outlets primarily deliver commentary; the delay involved in getting news a day after it’s happened comes with the unexpected benefit of knowing what you read is more likely to be true; and it’s not that newspapers are necessarily so great, it’s that social media is so bad.