US vs UK: observations from a valley dweller, and me

I have just read a fascinating post from Silicon Valley digital PR expert Shanee Ben-Zur, someone who I worked with up until recently, on her impressions of the media traditions in the UK. She has just arrived and observed (amongst other things football and pork scratchings related) that it's particularly strange that we read newspapers still. My reaction to this reaction, if you get me, is that of surprise.

Straight from Shanee's blog post:

In London for some business meetings. What I want to talk to you are some observations about sights, smells and sounds... Reading the newspaper. This somewhat foreign concept to me makes a lot of sense here. Public transit is stellar, and there are very catchy quick-read newspapers that fit easily on your lap while you’re on the train or tube. Stories are short, and you don’t have to shimmy and shake the paper just to see article you’re reading. There’s a morning paper for the way to work and an evening paper for the commute home - always fresh news. I prefer newspapers to pork scratchings, but that’s just me.

The 'stories are short' point has always been a big difference between US and UK media (but I'll bring a copy of the Daily Mail to show Shanee when I meet her later, to show that it's not all the same as the freesheets). I'm fascinated though how foreign a concept reading a paper is to a Silicon Valley dweller.

Comments

[Shanee Ben-Zur]

Thanks Drew for the paper gift :) Now I'll have a good hearty Daily Mail read for the afternoon. I've become so addicted to consuming news on my phone or my laptop that it really was refreshing to actually have a newspaper in my hand. Might have to carry the habit over the US... Thanks again and can't wait to see you in California!

[Melanie Seasons]

For me it was just down to the transport. If I'm driving a car to work in the States, I'm not reading a paper. And most people in the States (New York City excluded, obvs) drives a car to work.

It's not a foreign concept, it's just not convenient.