There are plenty of ways for people to disengage from the news cycle – and plenty of sources of information and good writing that allow people to do it while staying informed. The ethos it is pitching may well help persuade people to pay, and I don’t doubt Montgomerie will be able to find good writers who will deal with big ideas in interesting ways.īut the idea UnHerd is offering a groundbreaking solution to information overload is faintly ludicrous. It intends to introduce paid services – an especially good idea given the perverse incentives to chase traffic that come with relying on digital advertising. UnHerd may well find an audience particularly attuned to its approach and values. In fact, it’s been around so long that it has become positively mainstream. That pusher of rolling coverage the BBC has been talking about using slow news to counteract fake news, and Montgomerie’s old employers, the Times decided last year to move to publishing digital editions at set points during the day, rather than constantly updating as stories break. Even the Guardian – which has most enthusiastically embraced the crack-cocaine of rolling web coverage, the live blog – also publishes regular long reads taking a deep dive into a weighty subject.
“Slow news” – a more considered approach to what’s going on in the world that takes in the bigger picture – has been talked about since at least the beginning of this decade. There is one way in which UnHerd perfectly embodies its stated aim of avoiding the new – the idea that we need to address the frenetic nature of modern news has been around for years. In any case, the line has since disappeared from the post – suggesting the zoological inadequacy of the metaphor may have been recognised.ĭoes… does he… what? /9lJNudKOap At least Montgomerie only picked the second-most famous poster animal for herding behaviour. UnHerd‘s mascot – a cow – has also created some confusion, compounded by another line in the writing tips describing it as “a cow, who like our target readers, tends to avoid herds and behave in unmissable ways as a result”. Events and Offers Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. Ideas and Letters A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section and the NS archive, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. Weekly Highlights A weekly round-up of some of the best articles featured in the most recent issue of the New Statesman, sent each Saturday.
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There is simply too much to take in, especially when it comes to news. Information overload is oft-cited as one of the main drawbacks of the modern age.