Sam Yagan, Co-Founder, OkCupid
Sam Yagan begins his media day with Morning Joe on MSNBC and by reading online on his phone or laptop the New York Times, Politico and other national and global news sources that help ground him in the news of the day. Online sources for technology news, such as TechCrunch and AllThingsD, are also part of his morning routine.
Though Chicago news is not necessarily his first priority Yagan follows two Chicago news sources online on a daily basis—Crain’s Chicago Business and builtinchicago.org—in order to stay up-to-date on news about technology and start-up companies. “I proactively look at Crain’s every day by following it on Twitter and reading it online on my phone,” Yagan says. “I use builtinchicago.org as a resource when I am looking for a specific piece of information or when I get an email about an interesting article.”
Yagan doesn’t read the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Sun-Times either in print or online. He listens to WBEZ-FM when he is in the car but doesn’t watch Chicago news on television.
During the day Yagan gets news from his Twitter and Facebook accounts—primarily here and there when he gets a few free moments—and from email from colleagues, friends and family. “I’m in meetings all day and don’t have time to check the news, so someone has to have filtered it for me somehow.”
Yagan estimates he gets 80 percent of his Chicago news online, and while he feels well informed in the areas that he cares about, he suspects he is missing stories of potential interest in other fields.
“I’m sure there are a whole set of things that I would be interested in if I saw them, but the way we consume news now means that I’m not exposed to them.”
Yagan does have a guilty pleasure, however: sports radio. “If I’m in the car, it’s pretty much that or news radio.”
By Valerie Denney
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