All my childhood I have been told by my parents to read the newspaper regularly. Not just Urdu news but also international news in English papers. I used to find it very annoying and unnecessary compulsion from my parents when I was a child. But they always used to say, “Reading is important, you should be aware of your surroundings and what is happening in your country.” And guess what? They were right.
As I grew up, I started enjoying reading and following the Urdu news in Pakistan. My grandfather, as he had bad eyesight, used to ask me to read the newspaper to him. This practice improved my reading and narrating skills, and it boosted my performance in school as well. Not to brag but I was the best in my class when it came to languages.
News as a learning tool
There is so much to read in the newspaper for everyone, when you just focus on the reading part it helps you improve your vocabulary and allows you to have more grip on the language. And when you focus on the content it increases your knowledge and information. My habit of reading newspapers helped me stand out in the class. With the constant reading, I started writing speeches and started participating in debating competitions. It also helped me in social studies and geography. There are courses like journalism and international relations, you can pursue your career in these fields if you are a newsreader.
I know it’s a digital era and I am talking about reading a newspaper. But we have smartphones and tablets in our hands now, in fact, I would say the “smartest phones”, are not just smart. They give you access to the whole world. We did not have these technological facilities in our childhood. Nobody reads a newspaper now, but you can always read any news or article on your phone just by clicking once. National or international news, sports news, business news, or any other topic you are interested in, you can find the latest updates on the internet. You can read, learn and be aware.
Reading news makes you look smarter
You can read anything you want, but reading news increases your critical thinking. It is natural that when you read something, you get curious about it, you maybe dig in more into it. You read about some new development in your country, be it a new policy for something or new law, you develop an opinion about it and compare the situation or event with the previous situation or even with some other country. That’s how, whenever you are sitting in a gathering you can give the arguments on that topic with references and examples.
You can see, the people who speak logic and win arguments, are always the people who read. They are always good conversationalists. If you are sitting in a new community and you know nothing about the people there, but you want to start a conversation. Just start discussing the current issues, everyone will have something to say about it, and you will get along with people easily.
Reading news makes the picture clear for you
If you are a regular newsreader, you follow Urdu news in Pakistan as well as the international news, you will have more clarity about what is going right and what is wrong. Unlike the newspaper, the internet is filled with fake news. Especially if you see any news on social media, there are 80 percent chances that the news can be fake or the tagline can be manipulative.
But if you read the news, you can distinguish between the original and fake news, or at least you can confirm from a reliable source. You can stop spreading misinformation and make people aware of what is the right thing. Reading news also makes your research skills strong, sometimes there are some topics you are interested in knowing more about. So you read the related articles on that or search for more things on the internet. This gives you more clarity regarding the situation.
News can be entertaining too
Yes, that’s right. News can also be entertaining and inspirational at the same time. You read some sports news and find it amusing how your favorite team in a football league is ruling in the tournament. Read about the journey of Elon Musk or Malala Yousafzai and get inspired by their work and develop an interest in their respective fields. You can read about your favorite people and favorite games in the news.
The concluding tip
There are always some pros and cons for everything, I have told you the pros of reading news, but there is always some bad news to read every day. If you are reading the Urdu news in Pakistan, there can be news of increasing inflation or lack of clean water. And if you are reading the international news, there can be news related to the conflict between the two countries or racism. This kind of news can be depressing for some people.
So sometimes, you have to give yourself a break and should not go into the details of such depressing and disturbing news. Your mental health always comes first and you should be careful about that. You know what they say, excess of everything is bad. So do not disrupt your peace of mind with excessive knowledge of disturbing issues. You can get the basic gist of the matter and get aware of the situation.
Read some positive stories but do not leave the habit of reading the news. This practice improved my reading and narrating skills, and it boosted my performance in school as well. Not to brag but I was the best in my class when it came to languages. There are always some pros and cons for everything, I have told you the pros of reading news, but there is always some bad news to read every day be aware of this situation.
