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Learn the Art Of Reading Newspaper While UPSC Exam Preparation

It is all okay! We all know that the UPSC exam is tough to clear. But, it is not impossible. Students must prepare for the huge syllabus on various subjects. Among them, current affairs take the major portion.

Here comes the importance of reading newspaper in the right manner. Explore the tips and strategies to read the newspaper for the UPSC exam.

Importance Of Reading Newspapers For UPSC Exam

We consider newspaper analysis as an important element for the students to prepare. The first step is to understand why newspaper reading is important for the civil services examination. Later, you can study about how to do it.

In the past few years, many questions in the UPSC exam is from the current affairs section. Moreover, these questions appear in all the stage of the exam. Don’t you think it is a serious matter of concern?

Read newspapers as per the requirement of the civil services exam. Apart from exam preparation, you must learn what’s happening around you and improve general knowledge. Groom yourself to be an eminent IAS officer.

There are many resources available to prepare for current affairs. Some of them to include are:

  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Mobile Applications
  • Current Affairs Capsules

However, the best practice is to dedicate one hour for reading “The Hindu” newspaper on a daily basis. It would definitely help you to perform well in prelims, mains, and also in the interview phase.

Every IAS aspirant must have good communication and vocabulary skills. How can you work on it? Simple idea! Just read newspapers. It improves your vocabulary along with knowledge awareness.

Which is The Best Newspaper To Read?

That’s right! There are many newspapers available in the market today. But, which is good from the UPSC exam point of view? Mostly, The Hindu and The Indian Express are preferred.

Both of these newspapers cover the majority of the aspects as expected by the UPSC syllabus. It includes articles on national, international, sports, science, and technology issues.

You need not follow both. Choose one that best suits your need. Please do not skip the process of reading newspapers. Here is the list of tips you must keep in mind while reading newspapers.

  • Keep the copy of the syllabus in front of you. Refer the same whenever you get doubts.
  • Collect the previous year question papers and know what UPSC has already asked under current affairs. Based on the type of questions, you can plan for the preparation.
  • Do not just read different articles. Focus on the concept and understand the issue. Ultimately, you should be able to provide the supporting statements for every answer during the exam.
  • Take down the notes as and when you read new topics. Do not make notes based on the dates. It should be better if you do topic-wise.
  • Refer to other important websites that can support your newspaper knowledge.

Prelims Phase Preparation Requirement

In the first place, understand the syllabus properly. You should know what are the topics come in both prelims and mains. UPSC exam is very strict in terms of the syllabus.

You can clearly focus on important events happening around, schemes, initiatives, science & technology developments, and government policies.

Mains Phase Preparation Requirement

Concentrate on major developments. For example, it can be schemes, controversies, issues, initiatives, etc. Such questions appear in General Studies Paper 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Analyze the issues in depth. Try to see the same issue from a different perspective.

Tips To Read The Newspaper Quickly and Smartly

  • Go through all the major developments present on the front page. Do not include political issues at this point of time. Now, read the policy development or major decision other than regional news.
  • Study about the news topics which are related the syllabus. Do not read political news or crime news. It is not that important.
  • Spend more time reading about supreme court verdicts, high court verdicts, government orders, parliamentary debates, etc.
  • If you are referring to The Hindu newspaper, do not miss out to read an editorial page. Two editorials will be given on the left margin. Read and analyze them properly.
  • Nextly, move on towards lead article. This would be an excellent analysis of current affairs. There will be a portion called “Letters to the editor.” When you read this, it provides a different opinion about the same topic.
  • Make sure you finish the editorial within 40 minutes. Ensure that you do not get biased. Finish it in the time limit.

Just Reading The Newspaper Will Not Help

You must analyze the issue and understand the concept. Do not read like a story. For example, let’s assume that you are reading the business news. If you do not know how to understand inflation, Sensex, repo, CPI, etc.

Then, how can you understand in the practical aspect? Above all, do not just read for satisfaction. Try to understand it from scratch.

Make crisp notes which is concise and to the point in nature. There is no meaning if you copy the entire editorial from the newspaper. At least, be aware of 5 to 6 points about each topic. So that you can easily write an answer for 10 marks easily.

Avoid These Mistakes While Reading Newspaper

Do not stop just after reading the newspaper once. Many aspirants read it for the first time and put it away. Later, they wait for a monthly magazine.

Students just depend on the notes given by coaching institutes. But, please make notes after reading the newspapers. It helps you to get better understandability.

Do not skip reading the newspapers for a few days. Generally, students assume that it is okay to skip and read all the days’ newspaper at once. It is not humanly possible.

Do not interlink the concepts in textbooks with the newspaper articles. UPSC exam preparation expects comprehensive understanding and you must adopt it.

Current affairs question need not appear directly from the article. It can appear from the background of understanding. This is done to test your capacity to analyze the issues.