So say I’m your average American teenager (which I am) and I want to know more about what’s going on in the world around me.
But I’m not sure where best to get that information on a regular basis.
So help a sister out. What news do you watch or read? I’m looking for something in a not going on all day format. Something I can TiVo or pick up at the end of the night after I’ve finished my schoolwork and get it all in a fairly succinct manner. And something that isn’t too full of bullshit.
Right now, I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and we get Channel One (which is like a ten-minute news show for kids) at school.
Where do you live? The Washington Post is good for news of the day, and is available online. I especially like its international reporting, which is better than the overrated New York Times, IMO. Check out your daily paper too. Even if it’s lousy, it’s the best way to get local news, usually better than the “If it bleeds it leads” local TV news.
For more depth, The Economist is a good slightly center-right newsweekly. Lots of in depth stories, way better than Time or Newsweek. Check out National Public Radio too. I suppose it is left leaning, but not nearly as much as some of the more hysterical conservatives claim.
Between the big three cable newsies, I like MSNBC- I find CNN a bit left to my tastes & FOX a bit right. Only problem with MSNBC is the documentary clutter
(Dateline NBC, Inside Prison & True Crime docs)
CNN Headline News is good when it’s actually Headline News & not more damn talk shows.
An interesting way to do this is to go to Google News. You’ll find a listing of some significant headlines, and then you can look at the various sources that are carrying that story. Some will be pretty straightforward, but if you’re a canny reader, you’ll start to see that some sources are biased and you can learn something important in that. But - congratulations on embarking on the search. You’ve given your classmates a boost in their reputations. xo, C.
I like the Drudge Report. Actually I love the Drudge Report, and visit it everyday. It is not so much a news agency as much as it is a collection of internet addicts constantly scanning the net for interesting stories and linking them for easier use to find.
In an act of full disclosure, the guy who started it, and still probably still owns it leans very right. And that is coming from someone (me) who leans right.
Now you asked for news, so my vote is for Drudge, but if you’re looking for everyday interesting links, then try http://www.fark.com/ . It’s the same idea, of being a place that links interesting stories from around the net to one source. It’s not all news, but some people like it.
Personally, I would avoid all TV news. It’s shallow, sloppy and often biased. The BBC might be an exception. I’ve never watched it regularly but I’ve been impressed with BBC radio news.
You might be interested in Media Matters. It’s a liberal fact-checking website that reports on misinformation in the mainstream media. The Media Matters folks are scrupulously accurate about what they report. They’re definitely partisan though – they focus only on correcting misinformation that puts liberals or liberal causes in a bad light. If there’s a corresponding site on the right I don’t know about it.
I listen to NPR for most of my general news. When I miss the news during the day, I’ll generally go out to their Web site and wander around.
A couple of other good places to go for lots of news all in one place (in addition to Google News) are : the Original Signal news page and Newsvine (also available from the Original Signal buzz page).
I find that cruising a bit on all of these pages (and here on the Dope) gets me a lot more information than any one standard news program.