Media Diet - Mathew Ingram

Without further ado, here's the first go at the return of the media diet survey, which started in 2002 at J-Log. For the first one we get a look at the Media Diet of Mathew Ingram. If you want to fill one out, email me for the time being until I can get a proper form worked up. ;)

Short bio (i.e. what do you do, how long have you been in the business, etc...)

I'm a technology writer and blogger for the Globe and Mail, a daily national newspaper based in Toronto. I've been writing columns, stories and blogs for globeandmail.com since it launched in 2000, and have been writing about technology since the earyly 1990s and working as a journalist since 1987. I have a Web 2.0-related blog and a media-related blog.

What do you try to read on a daily basis?

On a daily basis, I try to read the National Post (Canada's other national daily), my own paper and the Toronto Star. I also read bits and pieces of various blog feeds every day, as well as Techmeme.com and Tailrank.

A weekly basis (i.e. at least once a week)?

Once a week, I read the Sunday New York Times.

What do you turn to for 'junk food' or snacks? (i.e. The Onion, etc...)

For junk food and snacks, I read BoingBoing, Fark.com, Metafilter and Digg.

Do you use blogs as a source of news? If so, when did you start?

I do use blogs a source of news -- or at least a source of commentary that often leads to or becomes the news. I've been doing that pretty much since I discovered blogs and RSS several years ago.

(What aggregators do you use, if any?)

For aggregators I use Metafilter, Techmeme, Digg, Tailrank and Megite.

(How many RSS feeds do you subscribe to?)

I have about 200 feeds, but some of them are keyword filters or Digg streams. I scan through them using Google Reader, and in some cases only read the headlines until I find something interesting.

Do you find yourself relying less on other mediums since the advent of the Internet? Do you think this will change in the years to come?

I definitely find myself relying less on newspapers and magazines for news, as well as TV (which I never watched that much). The first
thing to go was magazines, and then newspapers, which I still read -- in part for professional purposes, partly out of nostalgia -- but
don't rely on as much for news.

Anything else you would like to add?

As someone else (I can't remember who) said awhile back, my RSS feeds in many ways are now my main filter for news or content of different kinds -- I know if it's likely to be interesting to me, it
will show up there. So I still read newspaper and magazine pieces, but I come to them in different ways.

Thanks again to Mathew Ingram for taking the time to answer some questions about his media diet.

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