Saturday, February 22, 2014

Media Habits From a Slightly Different Time

An interview with 74 year-old Thomas Kern

By Jennifer Iler
Last Edited: February 22, 2014


            Charleston’s Thomas Kern, 74, is a man with all the gadgets: surround sound stereo system, XM Radio, Android Smart Phone, and updated HP computer. He has embraced the technology into his advancing years, but travels no farther, now, into the world of news than he did in his youth.
Thomas, or Tom, was born in Tonopah, Nevada in 1938. The first time Tom should have noticed the impact of the news media in the world would have been the droppings of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, or the red scare with the Soviet Union. But he couldn’t even pinpoint a moment in his childhood when he realized what news was.
            When asked about himself, thinking in terms of a “news consumer”, Tom said, “I am not much of a news consumer other than for weather…”
            But was he always this disassociated with the news world? I asked Tom what news media he found most important to him as a news consumer in his youth. He said, “I delivered papers in Toledo Ohio in the 1940s so I guess it was the Toledo Blade and the radio. I still use satellite radio on the way to and from work.”
           Along with this question, I asked him to tell about what he likes or doesn’t like about the news media he currently uses.
            “What I don’t like is the way some newscasters broadcast information with their view on the item – not just the news [itself]. It is biased sometimes," Tom said.
            When it comes to his news habits, he told me he barely has any. “[Rosalie, my wife] did [develop habits]. She still reads the paper every day. I will watch the news very seldom because I catch most of it on the car radio.”
It’s interesting to find a man of such an older generation that can still keep up with the fast pace of today’s best technologies. To find out what drives Tom to keep the pace, I asked him how he felt about the new wave of technology and if he’ll ever stop pushing to keep up with modern generations.
            “I guess we just go with the flow. I know there are people [out there] that still want to use horse and buggies. Life with technology is so much easier and better. Sometimes it can be much more dangerous, [when] used incorrectly. [People need to] stop and think.”  
            But what does Tom really think about the fast-moving, web-browsing, 4G Network-ing of the latest gadgets? What does he think about the young people who use them? He simply said, “Sometimes I just wish the world would just slow down and smell the rose[s]. What I mean is – stop, look, and listen. Don’t jump to immediate conclusions. Think before reacting.”
            This kind of advice hits hard with a mobile quick shooter like me. When it comes to my news, I typically scan one source and one source only. Unless I hear it in public discussion, I barely analyze what information I’m taking in. The facts I’m shoveling into my brain should be taken with a grain of salt, and Tom realizes this all too well when it comes to the younger generation of mobile news consumers.
            “I am concerned about some of our younger people and their ideas about news. They are not interested in news if it is not sports. And a lot of the sports idols that you are supposed to look up to and model yourself after have put themselves out in a way that young people shouldn’t see.” He added, “Most of the youth don’t even look or care about whom is running for president or any of the big issues confronting this country or this world.”
            This is where he would be showing his gray hair, if he had any. Actually being a member of that younger generation, I know the social media that consumes most of our time can be covered with political activists and real life point of views about the issues that young people care about. Unfortunately, I do agree that the “public forum” of discussion that takes place on social media sites tends to be based entirely on unchecked opinion, instead of facts.
            Even though he has a smart phone, Tom strays from the mobile news sources.
            “We don’t have any news apps on our phones. The newspaper and XM Radio is about all we use… and sometimes, [but] very rarely TV.” He does, however, believe that today’s technology does a better job of reporting the news than the days of just newspaper and radio.
            “...Technology has allowed them to move information faster and more reliably around the world.”
Tom said he hasn’t given much thought to the level of integrity found in today’s news media. He said, “… I hope they have more integrity now because the issues are more demanding [today].”
It seems that Thomas Kern is in much of the same position as many of today’s young people are: They are surrounded by new technologies that they don’t use to stay connected to the news media. They simply don’t invest their browsing time into the world around them. And for many people, that’s okay. For 74 year-old Tom Kern, that’s the way it’s going to be. Although news and connection seems to be important, living life in comfort and at his own pace seems to be even more important. This is just more evidence that to be technologically savvy is not necessarily equal to being engaged in news media.

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