How to Read a Newspaper for CLAT 2024?

Summary: Making reading newspapers your habit is not that difficult if you see but maintaining that habit actually takes a lot of effort, time, energy, and enthusiasm. The biggest advantage of reading a newspaper is that it adds value to you and your personality. This post will give you complete insights into reading newspapers for the CLAT entrance exam.

Reading newspapers has numerous advantages in the context of any competitive exam, but it is especially beneficial for CLAT. It assists you with current events and the other entrance exam portions.

Reading editorials and interviews from the newspaper will help you better understand the ongoing issues and clear the GK section easily. Also, it will help you score better in the English and logical reasoning sections.

 If you are one of those aspirants who have been ignoring newspapers because of too much content or any other reason, it is high time to make it a habit to read a newspaper daily. 

Read through the post that will give you a complete insight into how to read a newspaper for the CLAT 2024 exam, the time required to read the newspaper, and more.

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Tips & Tricks for Newspaper Reading for CLAT 2024

Newspapers assist you in preparing for the exam in various ways, from improving reading comprehension and vocabulary to developing analytical abilities. Also, it will help enhance your CLAT GK preparation and score well in the upcoming exam.

Most of you might have difficulty finding references for current affairs topics while reading newspapers because reading newspapers requires skills and routine, while studying current affairs from other sources is a shortcut.

Being a law student, you must understand which news is essential in the newspaper from the CLAT perspective.

To make it easier, we have provided a few tips and tricks below to help you better understand how to read newspapers for the CLAT exam.

Skimming and Filtering

First of all, you should filter out the main topics of the newspaper which are relevant for exams and have a national or international consideration.

After reading items from apps and websites, you should read the newspaper. This is because articles you create for websites are repeated, and you have a deeper understanding of these issues after receiving an introduction from websites.

Prime Focus Areas

Don't get involved in local or state news. They will never appear on a question paper and always concentrate on national and international concerns, such as a policy that has been reintroduced in parliament, any deal or formal/informal talks between India and any other country, the names of Acts, and the names of technical, financial terminology.

As a result, you might not grasp if you read a little about the article's background and Google a little about the meanings.

Read more: Short tricks to enhance your CLAT English preparation

Editorial Tips

Most importantly, read the editorials carefully because they will help you improve your reading speed, which will aid you in the actual examination because CLAT requires a good reading speed.

Furthermore, editorials frequently contain essential information, so make a note of it.

I'm very sure that after reading an editorial, you don't churn it in your head and form your own opinion on the subject, which is why you read an editorial like any other piece of information and forget about it after a while.

To prevent this from happening, try this method:

As you read the editorial, pick out the words/phrases that are new to you. Look up the definitions of such words/phrases and try to construct your own sentences using them.

After reading the editorial, do some additional research on the topic touched on in the editorial and try to create your own opinions on the subject, or simply read and ponder on the subject.

By completing both of the aforementioned tasks, you will not only be able to repeat the facts but also express your thoughts and opinions about the subject of the editorial.

Read more: Short tricks to score 150 marks in CLAT

So, anytime a particular topic arises, and if you've read an editorial on the subject, you'll recall the editorial because you've reflected on it, and you've intentionally attempted to comprehend and develop your ideas on the subject.

You will definitely be better equipped for the exam and, in general, if you go by this approach, and I speak from experience that it does work wonders.

Important Do's and Dont's

Some people go overboard, such as reading many newspapers. However, I do not believe that a clat aspirant is required to do so. Allow time for the other portions.

Keep your own current-events journal. Focus on topics such as committees in the news, legal developments, bills, major decisions, and awards, among others.

Examine Previous Years' CLAT Question Papers to get a sense of the types of current-affairs questions that have been posted.

Jot Down Important Points 

Make a list of relevant events in a notebook to review when the exam is coming. Make succinct points rather than long paragraphs.

You can also take cuttings of any data, graph, or object. For future reference, keep an eye out for new laws and revisions to existing ones.

Offline newspapers are preferred over online newspapers. While reading the paper, use a marker to mark any new words that come up (do not write them).

Read more: Short tricks to enhance your CLAT legal aptitude preparation

Then repeat this method for as long as you read the paper. Finally, look over the words you've highlighted and scribble down their definitions on a piece of paper, using a Thesaurus only, not a dictionary.

And I can't leave this out: Avoid reading advertisements: Yes, they are distracting and, as a result, consume a lot of your time.

Areas to Focus on While Reading the Newspaper for CLAT 2024

As we all know, newspaper reading is a time-consuming factor. Therefore, you should opt for selective reading.

In this way, you can develop your ability to filter the Important topics for the CLAT exam while developing your knowledge on how to ignore the non-relevant topics.

The following are the important areas that you need to focus on while reading a newspaper:

• Frontpage
• Editorial page - language, knowledge, terminology
• Recurring issues like Hong Kong protests, news related to elections, etc.
• Standard Questions News such as appointments, records, awards, etc.
• Business related news
• International news

Which is the Best Newspaper for CLAT Exam 2024?

It might be confusing for most of you to choose the best newspaper, as numerous papers are available in the market. 

You must opt for only one newspaper during your CLAT Exam Preparation rather than reading multiple newspapers daily, which will waste your time.

• If you are a beginner and have never read a newspaper, you can start by reading the Times of India or the Tribune.
• Both papers are easier to read and understand the given information effectively.
• Once you read the newspaper, you should read the Hindu or the Indian Express for relevant information.

How Much Time is Required to Read a Newspaper for CLAT 2024?

 You must give equal importance to all the subjects, including reading a newspaper regularly. You must set up a time in your CLAT Study Plan to read the newspaper daily.

According to the expert's opinion, you can give a maximum of 45 minutes to 60 minutes to reading a newspaper. But not more than that!

Also, it is always better to read the newspaper early morning. You can read it while making your breakfast or while travelling to work. If you don't have time during the day, read it at night every day.

How to Make Notes While Reading a Newspaper for CLAT 2024?

While reading the newspaper, note down the headline or title in your words, as this will help you memorize them for a long time.

• Also, make notes on the research that you have conducted related to each topic.
• If you are a CLAT aspirant, it is imperative to research the topics related to Daily Current Affairs.
• One of the smartest ways to make notes is by dividing the topic into various sections like national, international, awards, sports, etc. 
• You can also make your own notes date-wise or month-wise.