Whether you are preparing for a competitive exam such as UPSC or you are reading the newspaper as a part of your habit, it is important to learn the basics of reading it in the right way.
So what are the basics of reading a newspaper?
Here are some of the eminent tips that you can follow while going through a newspaper.
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Choose Right Newspaper:
The very first tip that you should follow is to choose the right newspaper for your reading. There can be several reasons for you to read a newspaper such as if you are preparing for an exam, you are learning a new language, or you just wish to stay updated with the current affairs.
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If you are reading a newspaper to learn or practice a new language, of course, you will have to get newspapers of that particular language only. But if you are looking forward to cracking a competitive exam or staying updated with the happenings, you should mix and match a few newspapers.
Of course, it is not possible to read 4 to 5 newspapers a day. But choosing one from important sectors such as one for political news and one for international news can help. Most importantly, in such a case, try to stay away from the local newspapers if you want crisp and proper overall news for the day.
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Scan Headlines:
Now, whether you have got one newspaper of several pages or two newspapers from two different sectors, reading them will take a good amount of time. Of course, you cannot spend the whole day reading newspapers, leaving out other important tasks. If you are a student or someone preparing for an exam, you also have to devote a good amount of time to your studies also. So, what should you do in such a case?
One of the best things that you can do here is to focus on the headlines of the newspapers first. Here are some of the simple steps that you can follow that can save you some time while going through all the eminent news of the newspaper.
- Scan through all the headlines on each page to find out which are important and which you do not need to focus on.
- Highlight the important news headings with a pen or a highlighter. If possible, keep highlighters in two colours. Highlight the very important news in one colour and lesser important news in another colour.
- First, go through the news content of the headings that you have highlighted as very important.
- If you have time in hand after reading out the most important news, then start reading the news that you have highlighted in some other colour.
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Understand the Difference between Political News and Political Issues:
If you are preparing for competitive exams, you have to go through the news on political issues also. Even if you are a regular newspaper reader, you should know the news on different political issues to stay updated with the changes that are taking place in the country. But do not get confused between political news and the news on political issues.
News on political issues is those that are about the administrative, legislative, and constitutional processes. You should try to stay away from any kind of direct political news. Again, if the news is about the election of an important minister on an important position in the country, you should surely take this into consideration.
Also, you should not go through news that is about any kind of political remarks. Moreover, learn how to distinguish between a newspaper that is biased or unbiased towards a political party. Always try to choose a newspaper that is not biased towards a political party so that you can get a neutral vision of a particular event or incident.
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Regularly Go through Editorials:
While you should stay away from political remarks, you should not leave out the editorial section or the perspective section. The content covered in the editorials are thoughts of different eminent figures from different backgrounds on a particular incident that has taken place.
Again while doing so, you should take care that whose perspectives you are reading. Do a bit of research on the person whose perspective you are reading to understand whether the person is biased towards a party or a person or not. Though editorial sections are mainly for giving out a neutral view, in current situations there can be times when you may find biased views. Hence, it is a great idea to research the person before reading the views.
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News on Socio-Economic Issues:
Apart from the regular news and the news on political issues, there are many other topics that you should cover to stay updated with what is happening around you. You should go through the news on different socio-economic issues such as any kind of policies that are affecting a particular section of the country, issues related to health, education, women, children, or minorities of the company.
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- Hindustan Times ePaper
- Times of India ePaper
- Economic Times ePaper PDF
- Business Standard ePaper Today
You can focus on such news for the country as well as on the international front too.
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Focus on National as well as International News:
One of the major reasons why you should not read the local newspapers for competitive exams is that it does not cover international topics properly. The local newspapers have more focus on showing news from the local districts and regions or majorly from the news topics of the country. This way, the international news that can be important also get missed quite often.
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Hence, you should check out newspapers that are on a central basis so that you can get the important news of the country as well as important news from the international front as well.
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Focus on Court Verdicts:
There are so many people who may often leave out the verdicts made by the High Courts or the Supreme Court. You need to understand that some of the judgments and verdicts can get historic. There are many such verdicts from the courts in the past that has brought changes in the traditional legal system of the country.
There can be also verdicts that can raise controversies and debates. You should know the actual cause so that you can understand the ongoing debates in a much better way. Even if you are not going through the entire news article, you should at least go through the summary part that talks about the verdict given and the case on which such a judgment has been made by the court.
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Focus on Important Awards:
You should focus on the news talking about important awards and recognitions been provided to the eminent personalities of the country or on international grounds. By awards, we are not talking about the usual award functions that you see every now and then on your television sets.
Here we mean to focus on some of the most respected awards such as the Padma Shree, Veer Chakra, Bharat Ratna, or even the Oscars. Knowing about these awards is important as often you can get these questions in General Knowledge tests. Also, you should know the great personalities who have been rewarded for their eminent contribution in different sectors of life.
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Stay away from Unnecessary Topics:
If you are someone who does not read newspapers for leisure, you should keep in mind that you need to focus only on those parts that are important to you. Even if you are choosing the right newspaper, often you may get several topics such as entertainment or sports covered in different places. You should stay away from such news articles in order to save your time.
Of course, you can hover over the headlines to check out whether they are important to you or not. But do not get your minds diverted by the flashy pictures of the entertainment section if you wish to complete reading all the important news of the newspaper within a given period of time.
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Mark Statistics and Quotes:
When you are reading the news about any accidents or any incident, you may come across several statistics such as the number of people who died or so on. Also, at different times, you may find judgmental quotes that are said by some eminent personalities of the country or some other countries. Make sure that you mark these statistics and quotes and note them down somewhere so that you can remember them whenever needed.
Of course, if you are preparing for your exams, you must be making notes in the newspaper reading. While doing so, keep a different section for such quotes and statistics so that you can check them out instantly amidst other notes.
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Just going through the newspaper casually may not help you if you actually wish to gain benefits out of it. In order to stay updated with the latest happenings or to get ready for a competitive exam, you need to absorb the most important parts of the newspaper. The above-mentioned tips can be quite helpful in such a case.