Can’t start your day without the newspaper? Why does this small ritual matter so much and why do you feel anxious if you skip this habit for a day

You get up, take a shower to feel fresh, and the the next task is what you just can’t miss. Your breakfast is on the table and a cup of coffee is next to it. Now you look for what you really want. You check your front door. Nothing.

You get anxious. Where is the newspaper? Your phone gets a notification. You get multiple news alert. But you don’t want to open the news app. All you want is to open the newspaper, go throught the front page headlines first and then move on to the local pages. You even go through sports and business section and finally close it when you have have devoured everything printed on it.

For some readers, the newspaper belongs to the morning as firmly as breakfast does. Missing it means there is a gap in your morning and it feels incomplete.

Why does an ordinary activity become so important?

It may look as an ordinary activity but this is more of a habit for a person who has done it for years. There are several reasons which can justify why this habit could become suddenly important. One factor could be curiosity. The person can be curious about knowing the events of the world. Then another meaning could be something personal.

A person may enjoy the space for themselves during the time they read the newspaper. It is an escape from their world to dive into what is happening in the real world around them.

Some people also love to be updated about the world. While no theory can explain every single reader, these ideas help make sense of the attachment.

How does reading the newspaper become a daily habit?

Before understanding the habit of reading newspaper, we need to understand how a habit is formed. When you continue to repeat an action everyday, most likely under the same setup, your mind adapts to it.

Psychologist Phillippa Lally and colleagues studied habit formation in research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology in 2010.

The research included studying ninety-six volunteers. They chose a daily behaviour involving food, drink or physical activity. They repeated it in the same context for 12 weeks.

Repeating the same habit in a similar setting, led to automatic tendencies of doing the same things without even realising it. It required less thoughts and more automation.

The above study was only about habits and not about reading newspaper but the conclusion drawn can be used to explain the reading habit.

Imagine reading the paper after making tea each morning. After some days, when you sit down again with the cup of tea your mind automatically sends and alert that it is time to read the newspaper..

You no longer need to decide whether to read. The familiar setting helps prompt the action. Reading every day may therefore involve less constant determination than an observer assumes.

Why do readers want to know what happened next?

Curiosity is one of the reasons people are interested in reading the newspaper daily. This is appealing to people. This can be explained by the information gap theory described by George Loewenstein’s in 1994. It says that people get curious when they notice they do not have the knowledge or information they need to continue with the daily life. People like to be aware in case of emergencies, so looking for information motivates them to develop such habits of reading.

Consider a reader following a local road project. Yesterday’s report mentioned a decision expected from officials. Today the person picks up the paper to read if it was done or not.

There is an unfinished picture in your mind and you hope that the next edition will complete it.

A headline can also reveal a question the reader had never considered. They begin reading to understand it. Returning to a developing story can be rather like returning to a book with an unfinished chapter.

Can a newspaper become more than a source of information?

Yes, apart from being a way to gain knowledge and information, it also develops trust among teh audience. Published interviews and research connect people to the person who was interviewed. The reader feels like they now know a part of that person’s life.

A 2024 study led by Amy Ross Arguedas examined trust in news through interviews and focus groups across four countries, including India.

Another finding of this research was that people who read newspaper over tea amd coffee, reminded them of studying. So it added some more meaning to their daily habit. Their findings also explored how news use relates to people’s sense of identity.

Some people mention it as their father’s reading the newspaper daily while sitting in a balcony. It gives them memories and nostalgia.

Another person might associate the newspaper with a parent’s morning routine. These are just a few examples to explain the study and it does not mean every reader experiences the same things.