“I saw the headline but didn’t have time to read the whole story.” Do you find yourself saying this phrase more and more? With today’s 24-hour news cycle, staying on top of it all can be a full-time job. As a publicist, I understand. Staying on top of the news IS my job.
No matter your job, industry or seniority, you’ll benefit from being well-informed. Whether it’s keeping up with your community, clients, competitors or the world in general, knowing what’s happened in the past, what’s going on now and what could take place next can give you a competitive edge.
To help you filter some of the noise, here are a few free apps that help me follow everything from breaking stories to informative features.
1. GOOGLE NEWS.
The Google News app is a customizable aggregator that brings you the top stories, including global headlines, local news and topics you’re following, at any given moment. The smart app uses artificial intelligence to present and organize information based on your habits while using the app, which means the content suggestions will become more relevant over time.
Sign into your favorite paid subscriptions once, and that content is made available inside of the app, too.
2. NPR.
Listening to — rather than reading — the news is great for multi-tasking. Consider live streaming your local public radio station while getting ready for work or commuting in the morning. The NPR app also provides on-demand access to its national programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
One feature in the “on demand” section of the app highlights locally produced NPR podcasts. Here in Chicago, the “On Background” politics podcast took a deep dive into our recent mayoral runoff election.
3. TWITTER.
Did you know reporters and producers from a variety of media outlets (trade, local and national) are finding, investigating and sharing stories all day on Twitter? It’s one of the fastest ways to find out what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about. #Trending
The key is to make sure you’re following the right people. Identify what outlets and which reporters are covering what’s most important to you. You can also create lists to separate and filter Tweets from accounts you’re following, allowing you to easily view all the tweets on your “industry reporters” list.
4. POCKET.
See something interesting but don’t have five or 10 minutes to read it right now? Pocket allows you to save any content, including blogs and videos, from any place for safe viewing later. It also syncs across all of your devices, making it even easier to go back to that cat playing piano vid…or an in-depth piece on business marketing trends.
You can enable the Pocket Share Extension to save content from your favorite mobile apps. On a computer, you can also add the Pocket button to your browser’s toolbar to save content with one click.
An added bonus: the Pocket app lets you follow the public activity of people you know. Follow your favorite journalists, coworkers or family members to see what they’re saving and take in some fresh content.
There are many ways to get the news – you need to decide what’s most efficient for you.
Let us know – how do you keep up?