Paul's Seven Year Walk

Sunday, Lazy Sunday...

Gives me a chance to catch up on the news. Did you know a child was delivered on a flight to Armenia from Russia? Or that a National Level Rugby player was forced to drop out of a match because his dog ate his passport? The news can be fun and exciting... But it can also be complete crap. You really have to dig to find the good stuff, but believe me, there is a lot of good, and interesting news.

I read this article today, about a journalist, Paul Salopek who's decided to go for a walk. A seven year walk mind you. His objective is to cover the journey that ancient humans would have covered going from Eastern Africa into North America and progressively moving south till they reached Tierra Del Fuego.

I think the first time I read about the concept that ancient humans moved from Africa to the America's by such a path was in an issue of National Geographics. So it wasn't surprising to see that NatGeo was going to be sponsoring his trip.

What I really picked up on was this phrase:

"This was how we were designed to absorb information, at 5km an hour"

Paul Salopek will cover his trip with articles, videos and tweets. However, his philosophy of our natural processing power being at 5kmph makes perfect sense, and seems to be an essential 're-discovery' when one considers the overwhelming inflow of information that occurs every day.

Link to article: BBC News - Paul Salopek: Going for a seven-year walk

Our minds can't deal with it. People don't notice anything now a days unless it's right in front of them. Salopek likens today's journalism with today's concept of food (fast food). Both are fast, and only deal with surface level issues. Fast Journalism focuses on getting a story out; doing quick research, getting responses, putting a story together and throwing it out in record time. While 'Slow Journalism' essentially deals with more indepth research, looking at the possible influences that might not be so obvious and commenting on those. Paul Salopek has mentioned that today, we move so fast that we lose out on things and I agree completely.

"We miss texture. We miss colour. We miss flavour,"

He claims that if slow reporting, where the journalist moves with the story, rather than covering it immediately and then moving on, we might have been able to see the early signs of problems in current crises.

I really like the concept that Paul is going for a walk, and that he is essentially walking through our ancestors paths. He's passing through places where man had walked millenia ago, however, these are still the places where the story lie, waiting to be covered, or to develop into a crisis.

Where would you want to go for a seven year walk? Let me know in the comments below.