While I sit here on a Thursday evening trying to figure out what to blog about for a Friday morning posting, luckily Elaine’s post today about news strikes a chord on a few levels.

First, my news only comes to me in short snippets throughout the day.  I might catch 5 minutes of news radio when my alarm wakes me up, where I fade in and out of sleep for the first few minutes of the morning.  I then have the little bathroom TV on while I’m showering and getting ready for work.  (By the way, this is my favorite TV in my house, and is just about the only one I watch, and the one way I get a little bit of news).  I then get a dose of what Gayle King thinks are the hottest news stories at that moment as I’m driving to work, and then a small dose of CNN on my drive home from work.  And then in bed, a quick read of my local paper, which is only worth reading to catch up on local happenings.

Boy do I feel guilty that I can’t find the time to read more noteworthy news journals.  We’ve subscribed to the Weekend New York Times countless times.  As the papers pile up unread, I just feel guilty.  The Wall Street Journal that sits at the end of our driveway every morning is typically just placed in the recycling bin.   I yearn for the day that I can sit and read the Sunday Times unencumbered, but not exactly sure when that day will come.

Just in the past month, the NYT Weekender ad campaign has caught my attention.  ”Deliver the World to your Home” and “Be Part of a Great Conversation” and “What sections are you fluent in?” connect with me and make me yearn once more for those elusive moments with the Sunday Times.    I even told the kids tonight at dinner that I’m going to assign them each a night a week where it is their responsibility to bring a topic of conversation to the dinner table from current events.  We’ll see if I can successfully launch and keep that going.  My first attempt to discuss it at the table resulted in the oldest quibbling – “I’ve got lots of homework Mom”  and my youngest volunteering to do the dishes.

So for my last ponderings on the news – and the fact that the vast majority of stories, as Elaine noted, are tragic, sensational, glum.  It has me thinking that, if I just had some free time on my hands, I’d march down to the publisher of our local paper and sign up to be a free correspondent to publish positive stories about the students in my town’s school system.  The paper does a decent job of covering sports, but then all else is about problems with the schools.  We need some good, happy, inspirational stories to share about the amazing accomplishments and aspirations of our cities youth.

So there go my ponderings on news.  Funny that my attempt to figure out how to better master accessing newsworthy sources coincided with Elaine’s ponderings about being a news junkie.  I must admit though, like Catherine, I’ve discovered The Week magazine, and have determined that it is my best opportunity to stay informed and entertained….at least until I can figure out how to create a sustaining relationship with The New York Times.