Kevin McStay stepped down as Roscommon football manager last week. I found out when a friend posted the news on Facebook. McStay issued an unusually long statement, which I read to the end. By the time I had finished, I was amazed at how many people had posted that he was going to be the new Mayo manager in a self-reassured, adding two-and-two sort of a way.

That is because McStay said in his statement that he was stepping back from inter-county management. Now either the fellas who were posting that he was off to Mayo had some sort of insider information, or else they simply read the headline and didn’t bother to read his statement in full.

I would put my money on the latter. People don’t read beyond headlines anymore and it is a worrying reflection of the times we live in and how we are prepared to make decisions based on skimpy information.

This is just one example of where the soundbite has taken over. Our attention span has diminished to the point that people just don’t read beyond the headlines; and why complicated information needs to be distilled and distilled until it reads like a ladybird book. Newspapers are suffering in this disruption of news consumption. Why buy a clunky newspaper when you can scroll the headlines on Twitter or Facebook over your morning coffee? And that is what is happening.

People are not reading beyond the headlines and, even worse, are prepared to comment based on the headline. The McStay story is just one example. Go onto Twitter or Facebook, read a headline and see just how many people are prepared to offer an opinion based on the headline rather than the content. It is obvious in so many cases that people are not reading the content and it is particularly noticeable when it comes to political issues. I feel sorry for politicians who might try to explain a situation, but must do so in 280 characters.

We live in an era of instant, quick news and if you can’t explain everything in one tweet or via a headline, you lose. News reporters are part of this rat race too, fighting to be first with the story.

Nothing wrong with that necessarily, we all love a scoop, but how can a court judgement be digested in one paragraph? If you want another simple example of how we have lost our patience in the requirement of instant gratification, do you ever hear long guitar riffs at the start of a song anymore? No. You lose your listener if there are no lyrics within the opening five or six seconds.

Call me old fashioned, but it is concerning that we are conditioning ourselves to consume news and entertainment in such a simplistic manner. I know it is not the end of the world, but the bigger worry is how this demand for quick and now manifests itself in the way we live our lives in general and how we expect instant solutions to complex problems. To finish, I want to let you know I’ve decided to seek a nomination to run for the Presidency. See how many made it to the end to read that.

>ch>Returning to Countrywide

I am delighted to be returning to the presenters chair on Countrywide on Saturday week 22 September, after a forced absence of 10 weeks. RTÉ has been more than supportive of me during the summer in allowing me time to recover from my complicated injury. One wit remarked that I will be even harder to listen to now that I most definitely have a chip on my shoulder.