Essay

Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock”

Ben Hecht (1893-1964)

            The quote “trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.” most likely means that keeping up with things happening in the world by reading newspapers wont keep you updated about everything. A newspaper can also be adding false information into their articles. For example, like the guy from the Shattered Glass movie, he created many false documents and stories and got away with it for a very long time. Newspapers also can be opinionated at times.

This quote can be agreed with for many reasons. First, this quote can be agreed with because when reading a newspaper you never get everything that’s going on worldwide. A newspaper can only give but so much information about the world. For example, when you read about a hurricane or any natural disaster you only hear so much about it. Sometimes when a natural disaster happens newspapers talked about it for about a couple days and update you about it if anything more happens. Also, newspapers can’t cover everything if so a newspaper would be as big as a book.

Another reason why this quote can be agreed with is because not everything you read is true. Sometimes you can fund out way more about what’s happening worldwide form newscasts, but sometimes even those aren’t true. In most cases, people find out there own information from people they know who live in those areas or from radio shows. Radio shows provide a lot of good information as well. In modern day there are apps that you can download on your cellular device that help you listen to radio stations all over the world. Not only do these radio stations play music, but they also talk about what’s going on in that state or city.

As you can see, the quote “trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.” means many things.