I find reading the Globe & Mail to be a good discipline. In comparison to newspapers in other cities — San Francisco has almost always had bad daily newspapers — we’re fortunate to have good newspapers in Toronto. They report national news, local news … and international news. The Globe & Mail has the benefit of syndicating one page of the Wall Street Journal, which means that it at least keeps its business news section relatively sharp.

I don’t watch television news, and I tend to listen to the radio only for traffic reports. The biggest change in behaviour over the past ten years is that I used to be an avid reader of Business Week, and Fortune. I couldn’t keep up with the volume from Business Week. I still subscribe to Fortune, but it’s a big stack in backlog.

I guess if I had to add up the time that I used to spend in magazines, I must spend that amount of time in my feed reader, following individuals whom (a) I have a relationship and interest, and (b) who I know write good content. Good writing isn’t restricted to professionals.

The daily newspaper serves the function of keeping me abreast of news that I might not otherwise read. The Globe & Mail is pretty good about international news, as compared to most American newspapers who don’t acknowledge a world outside their borders. The quality of writing has to be relatively high for me, though, otherwise I would quickly lose interest and find it a waste of time.

P.S. I’m always in the habit of reading really local newspapers, such as Now Toronto, and Eye Toronto. When I travel, I seek them out, e.g. Village Voice, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Creative Loafing …. They tend to be members of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Besides giving restaurant reviews most appropriate to locals, they tend to syndicate less-than-mainstream views.