4 ms·

Ask HN: Where do you get your news?

1 points by everdev 9y ago

I want to keep up with politics and current events, but the bias on each end feels overwhelming with more commentary than information. Any reliable sources for current events you find informative?

wsc981 9y ago
For war-related news I like to use Twitter. For example for the war in Syria it seems you can get much better news from reporters on location compared to the general media. The general media (to me) seems to be much more influenced by politics. So for this purpose I followed Harald [0] and his wife Jenan Moussa [1]. --- [0]: https://twitter.com/HaraldDoornbos https://twitter.com/HaraldDoornbos [1]: https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa
djsumdog 9y ago
For independent media, I suggest Media Monarchy out of Portland, Oregon and James Corbett out of Japan (Canadian living abroad): http://mediamonarchy.com/ http://mediamonarchy.com/ https://www.corbettreport.com/ https://www.corbettreport.com/ I got to meet James from Media Monarchy earlier this year and he's a pretty alright guy. Neither of those sites run ads and depend on viewers to support them. There is, of course, Hackernews. I also use Lobst.er and, sadly, Slashdot. I gave up on Reddit after the whole editing comments (and not resigning) along with the warrant canary .. I tried Voat, but it's just a cesspool. I'll still go on once or twice a week just to look, but it's honestly pretty toxic.
mkempe 9y ago
I prefer not to. Think about it -- is your life better if you hear about new disasters or daily political twists in the world? does it make a difference whether you know about it or not? I quit watching tv. I no longer read newspapers, whether in print or online. Equanimity is possible.
- mkempe 9y ago
  To the down-voters: please explain what difference it makes in one's life whether one spends an hour or more each day to absorb "the news".
  - everdev 9y ago
    Well, one would assume that those who attempt to make a difference through protest, advocacy or free speech tend to follow the news. I agree if you intend to be consistently neutral on all topics, ignorance might be bliss. But there's usually something in a person's life they want to take a position on, be informed about and act on.
lebanon_tn 9y ago
I use Twitter as a front page of sorts. I can quickly get a sense of what’s trending and initial reactions of people whose longer form content I’ve found insightful. Perhaps the worst thing to do is approach a news source as being immune to bias. You need to acknowledge it’s inevitability and connect the dots yourself using several data points. Don’t forget about books too.

1 points by everdev 9y ago

I want to keep up with politics and current events, but the bias on each end feels overwhelming with more commentary than information. Any reliable sources for current events you find informative?

wsc981 9y ago

For war-related news I like to use Twitter. For example for the war in Syria it seems you can get much better news from reporters on location compared to the general media. The general media (to me) seems to be much more influenced by politics. So for this purpose I followed Harald [0] and his wife Jenan Moussa [1]. --- [0]: https://twitter.com/HaraldDoornbos https://twitter.com/HaraldDoornbos [1]: https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

djsumdog 9y ago

For independent media, I suggest Media Monarchy out of Portland, Oregon and James Corbett out of Japan (Canadian living abroad): http://mediamonarchy.com/ http://mediamonarchy.com/ https://www.corbettreport.com/ https://www.corbettreport.com/ I got to meet James from Media Monarchy earlier this year and he's a pretty alright guy. Neither of those sites run ads and depend on viewers to support them. There is, of course, Hackernews. I also use Lobst.er and, sadly, Slashdot. I gave up on Reddit after the whole editing comments (and not resigning) along with the warrant canary .. I tried Voat, but it's just a cesspool. I'll still go on once or twice a week just to look, but it's honestly pretty toxic.

mkempe 9y ago

I prefer not to. Think about it -- is your life better if you hear about new disasters or daily political twists in the world? does it make a difference whether you know about it or not? I quit watching tv. I no longer read newspapers, whether in print or online. Equanimity is possible.

mkempe 9y ago
To the down-voters: please explain what difference it makes in one's life whether one spends an hour or more each day to absorb "the news".
- everdev 9y ago
  Well, one would assume that those who attempt to make a difference through protest, advocacy or free speech tend to follow the news. I agree if you intend to be consistently neutral on all topics, ignorance might be bliss. But there's usually something in a person's life they want to take a position on, be informed about and act on.

lebanon_tn 9y ago

I use Twitter as a front page of sorts. I can quickly get a sense of what’s trending and initial reactions of people whose longer form content I’ve found insightful. Perhaps the worst thing to do is approach a news source as being immune to bias. You need to acknowledge it’s inevitability and connect the dots yourself using several data points. Don’t forget about books too.