Where to get the facts of life? Not on video

From 538 Significant Digits:

60 percent

Pivoting to video as a news site strategy sure seems like a great way to pivot to people not using your website at all: comScore data indicates that publishers that fired a bunch of writers this summer to fuel quixotic and nebulous video ambitions saw at least a 60 percent drop in traffic in August compared to August 2016. [Columbia Journalism Review]

Is this a sign that people are not going to the video tape to get their news? Could it be they’re reading?

The above information loudly supports what I’ve written about getting the facts of life:

…you do need to read the news. While TV is OK for debates and sports–events that allow us to hear and view the unexpurgated whole scope without distortions–even a sophisticated mind can’t tease complex facts out of heavily edited, selectively weighted and histrionic TV news reportage, let alone pundits jousting and talking over each other.

No, the only way to absorb facts is to get your hands dirty with newsprint.

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