One of the things I love most about technology — and specifically, the Internet — is that it has made the dissemination of information easier than ever before. I’m typing this on a laptop that is only slightly larger than a textbook but could, in no time at all, download and display the full contents of thousands upon thousands of textbooks. When Douglas Adams wrote Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 1979, the idea of a pocket-sized electronic device being able to tell you anything and everything about the universe was science fiction. Now we have the smartphone, a device even more capable … but so prevalent, we take it for granted on a daily basis (this morning, I used mine to look at oil paintings of cats dressed like Victorian-era war heroes).
That being said, the ability to access all of that content doesn’t mean a whole lot if you don’t have any, y’know, content — which can be difficult for the media, since it means having to repurpose content in any number of ways. Some people rely on Twitter for their online news. Some rely on Facebook. Some prefer a full, dedicated website. The trends in these fields are always going to shift, but the general movement appears to be toward, above all other things, brevity.
People want news, and they want to be able to digest it quickly. Perhaps that’s why the Pew Center found in 2013 that 36% of adults now receive their news through online video. That’s on par with cable news programs, and it’s a share of the pie that’s only going to get larger and larger as the Internet — and fast, widespread access to it — expands.
That said, I think it goes beyond just a desire for quick, easy to digest news. Video’s just a really fun way to find out about things. Take, for example, Vsauce — a very oddly named but nonetheless incredible YouTube channel wherein a host talks you through the fascinating answers to questions about science and philosophy. It’s heady, difficult stuff presented earnestly.
Which brings us, finally, to This Week in Penn Medicine News. We do a lot of interesting stuff here at Penn Medicine, and it’s not always easy to keep up. Between news releases, events, coverage, and various other things all coming together on an almost daily basis, we needed to find a way to succinctly bring it all together and present it to the public at large in a way that said, simply, “If you’ve got a minute or two, we can fill you in on our whole week.” Without demanding too much of your time, we’re showing you what we’ve done with ours.
It premiered this past Friday, and we’re aiming to keep that schedule going on a weekly basis. Changes in style or format may be down the line, but for now we’re letting the content dictate how things go.
Check it out, and be sure to let us know what you think. It is, after all, for you. Thanks!