6:30 – Alarm goes off and the tv goes on. Top stories of the news are taken in groggily. I consider this an accurate account of what has happened in the world since I last checked in, but question the attitudes and stances of some stories.
6:40 – Time to check my email – nothing new from work this morning and only a couple of sale announcements from mailing lists I subscribed to at some point in the past. I quickly delete them and then move onto Twitter to see if anything important has been posted since I last checked. There’s a tweet from the Pope, classroom updates, and some motivational messages to get the day started. Nothing to filter out or stop and question. Next stop, the weather app. -8 with the windchill and warming up this afternoon. Perfect! But I’ll check out the window anyway, just to make sure…
7:40 – The radio is on as I drive to work. Some music mixed in with all the chatter. I hear the weather update (which corresponds to what the app said earlier), zone out to the update on world events, and half listen to the entertainment report. Not too concerned with which celebrity is having a birthday today or what’s happening with country music stars in Nashville. Could be accurate, or completely made up, but either way it doesn’t impact my reality.
8:00 – Arrive at work and check my text messages. The group chat has been active this morning. Pretty entertaining and a great way to start the day, but no real news there. Nothing to interpret or deconstruct for deeper meaning anyway.
10:40 – Recess break and time to check in to see if I’ve missed anything since I’ve last connected. No new emails, text messages, or breaking news stories to read up on. It’s a slow day today.
12:00 – Lunch time and another check in. Mom’s texted a message with a picture attachment – didn’t know she knew how to do that 🙂 I send a quick response and check out what’s happening in the news. Another story about Trump and someone close to him resigning. I approach that article with a healthy dose of skepticism, as I do with most stories in this category. There’s elements of truth to be sure, but could be buried within the details. There’s also a story about the feelings related to possible changes to firearm regulations. I scan to find the actual details about the changes that could be made, but filter out the personal opinions. Mostly speculation on what could happen in the future. I make a note to watch for other stories on this topic.
3:35 – Quick check of the phone to see what I’ve missed since I last checked in. A few texts to respond to but nothing urgent. No time to check anything else though, conferences start in 20 minutes and there are things to prepare!
5:30 – Supper break time and a chance for a quick check in on Snapchat (nothing newsworthy on there, but a few entertaining photos/videos), and a scan of the day’s top stories. No time to delve deeper, but I make a note to come back and check in later.
8:40 – Time to head home. The radio is on during the drive, and lucky for me it’s mostly music with a few commercials mixed in. No news breaks or entertainment stories like my drive in 12+ hours earlier.
9:00 – Finally made it home for the day. Time to decompress and catch up on a few things I’ve missed today. I engage in a group chat, watch a few more Snapchat stories, read a few tweets and zero in on this one:
Regina Catholic to hire 16 FTE staff with additional provincial funding https://t.co/N9f9QmwjYM pic.twitter.com/YFYYREwmCu
— Regina Leader-Post (@leaderpost) March 23, 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
This is great news for our division! And as my school is benefiting directly from the increased funding, I know the basic details are correct. Next, it’s on to checking out other news stories from the day. I do my usual scan of the CBC, Global, and LeaderPost apps; compare the top stories on each, note the different perspectives each affiliate takes on similar stories, and hold onto the facts that are presented by more than one source. Then I move on to BuzzFeed. No real news to be found here, but a mindless, entertaining way to wrap things up and relax after a long, tiring, and mentally exhausting day. I mean, who wouldn’t want to take a quiz and find out, “Which ’90’s Actress Matches Your Personality?” (FYI – Sandra Bullock matches mine!).
10:30 – Time to log off and call it a night. The news, twitterverse, and group chats can wait until tomorrow.
Staci Senger 
Our days sound very similar. I especially like the check the weather then look out the window. I do that often. I also check the weather then look again right before I leave just in case it’s warmed up without me noticing. I also look at things like Buzzfeed as a way to unwind and relax and kind of check out.
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Love this blog post! What a great read! It was like sneaking a peak into someones diary! haha (disclaimer… I used to read my sister’s when I was little). I am amazed how good of a job you do at staying current with the news. I find that in my limited time to engage with reality these days, I am usually squeezing in long-distance phone calls to my mom during my 4 minute drive to work, and then organizing supper over the phone with my husband in the 4 minute drive home… the rest of my media interactions go as far as looking on twitter (as part of this class) and the odd 2 minute news update when I leave late for work in the morning and the Z99 crew squeaks in an update. I am so out of the media bubble at the moment, as all of my life is otherwise consumed by 2 kids 5 and under and 2 grad classes. I look forward to upping my media intake again when this semester is done! Thanks for the interesting post…. Way to go!
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Awesome blog post! I enjoyed reading it. I loved the ways you showcased your day and you did an amazing job putting everything together. Like yourself, I am so involved and surrounded by media and everyday schedules, I get worked up by the end of the day. Once again thanks for such a well-organized post, I look forward to your next one.
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I enjoyed the description of the time line to your day and I especially liked that you touched on the debate to the changes in the Firearms Regulations.
The changes to the Firearms Regulations is a polarized issue in contemporary Canadian Media and few people critically assess the situation (as you have).
Great post!
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