The advantages of reading newspapers are numerous but for a student it is one of the most important ingredients for successful career. Reading newspapers provides wide ranging benefits for everyone in general but especially for the students they remain the most important source of news and information, despite the onslaught of the electronic media.
Remember their is systematic way of reading newspaper. Start from the first page and move ahead sequentially. Choose two papers to be read daily. ‘The Times of India’ and ‘The Hindu’ are two papers which offer all information required for MBA preparation
Read daily – reading a newspaper should be a daily habit. Reading newspaper daily is one of the best ways to keep up to date with the ever advancing world.
Read Holistically – implies reading newspaper from all perspectives. One important rule all aspirants should remember is that all pages are important. It doesn’t mean all the pages have to be thoroughly read and remembered. We read at different speeds for different purposes of reading. Based on one’s objective of reading the newspaper skimming, scanning and elaborative reading are three different techniques of reading. In skimming you read quickly to get the main points, you scan the article for special focus and in active reading you’re actively involved with the article with elaborative study. For an MBA aspirant all three types are required for reading a newspaper. Skim the less important article like for eg classifieds, local news. You can scan the important headlines in the newspaper but actively read the editorial, Business and policy measures of the government.
Go slow Go fast- start reading the headlines of the first page and then the contents. First page is the most important page. While reading the initial paragraphs of the article, read slowly. Read the article but remember it is first few lines which tell us the entire story. First one or two sentences tell who, what, when, where, and why. If you feel you have understood the entire story you can quickly glance through the remaining story.
Make notes – As you develop the habit of reading the newspaper regularly you will become familiar with the layout of the newspaper. Underline the important points in the newspaper and record them religiously in a notebook (dedicated for this purpose). Also all the difficult words need to be noted down and decoded from dictionary. Start using these in normal routine it will enhance your vocabulary and communication skills.
Devote time – dedicate special time to read newspaper rather than reading in front of TV or while eating.
Remember you are not reading as it is your hobby rather your objective should be to learn and progress. Initially you might require extra efforts for dedicated reading but slowly it will become easier for you.
Prof.(Dr.) Shikha Sharma
Amity Business School
Amity University Rajasthan