4 ms·

Podcasts? I happily pay for Preet Bharara’s Cafe Insider podcast and the lawfare blog podcast is also really good. There’s a bit of a podcast discovery issue,

Podcasts? I happily pay for Preet Bharara’s Cafe Insider podcast and the lawfare blog podcast is also really good. There’s a bit of a podcast discovery issue, but good ones are extremely high quality and much better than TV news.

aaron-santos 7y ago
Curious what your current discovery mechanism is. I get by on recommendations from friends and internet comments, but I'm just a commute listener. Is your listening throughput on the high side?
save_ferris 7y ago
I agree that those are great sources for news, but a major shortcoming of those types of programs is coverage of local news. We are in very real danger of losing the press as an overseer of local government, which will have major detrimental effects long-term for so many communities, since local government is so much more directly impactful on our lives than the federal government is.
- organsnyder 7y ago
  A couple of impacts I've noticed due to the decline of local journalism: - I've found myself often becoming informed directly from my municipality (Facebook posts, press releases on their website...) rather than news reporting about the municipality. While I feel I'm engaged enough to notice when something seems off, the lack of critical reporting is undoubtedly detrimental. - AstroTurf faux-local sites with political agendas are springing up to fill the void: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/10/21/lansing-sun-new-sites-michigan-local-news-outlets/3984689002/ https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/10...
  - trentlott 7y ago
    So who covers local intrigue, then? To whom does one blow the whistle about corruption at City Hall? To the local Sinclair afilliate? I suspect NPR covers that for a lot of people; it might be correlated with why some politicians are so eager to defund them completely.
    - Mathnerd314 7y ago
      At least in my town we have some tabloid newspapers, funded mostly by restaurant/concert reviews, but that also publish letters every issue. Most letters are minor but occasionally they do a full-page one about corruption or similar. They also have freelance writers who publish the results of their FOIA requests.
    - DrScump 7y ago
      In SV, Metro (free, weekly) prints some quality journalism from San Jose Inside. Jennifer Wadsworth writes some very thorough pieces.
- bart_spoon 7y ago
  You may be surprised. I found a podcast covering stories in my midsized, Midwestern suburb by a local reporter that is really solid. Finding these types of programs are hard, but I suspect more people have local news podcasts than you'd think.
davvolun 7y ago
Part of the problem there is spin. There's obviously value in independent, subject-specific news sources, but you also have Alex Jones and InfoWars. It's not a new problem, Rush Limbaugh effectively used radio for the same thing, it's just a serious problem. The so-called radicalization of YouTube is another example.
- fossuser 7y ago
  Definitely true, but there’s spin everywhere to varying degrees. I agree podcasts on the bad end of the spectrum can be more extreme than TV news, but good podcasts have the time and freedom to discuss a subject in depth with their interviewees. Good ones that try to be honest also have less spin, but it depends a lot on the podcast.

aaron-santos 7y ago

Curious what your current discovery mechanism is. I get by on recommendations from friends and internet comments, but I'm just a commute listener. Is your listening throughput on the high side?

save_ferris 7y ago

I agree that those are great sources for news, but a major shortcoming of those types of programs is coverage of local news. We are in very real danger of losing the press as an overseer of local government, which will have major detrimental effects long-term for so many communities, since local government is so much more directly impactful on our lives than the federal government is.

organsnyder 7y ago
A couple of impacts I've noticed due to the decline of local journalism: - I've found myself often becoming informed directly from my municipality (Facebook posts, press releases on their website...) rather than news reporting about the municipality. While I feel I'm engaged enough to notice when something seems off, the lack of critical reporting is undoubtedly detrimental. - AstroTurf faux-local sites with political agendas are springing up to fill the void: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/10/21/lansing-sun-new-sites-michigan-local-news-outlets/3984689002/ https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/10...
- trentlott 7y ago
  So who covers local intrigue, then? To whom does one blow the whistle about corruption at City Hall? To the local Sinclair afilliate? I suspect NPR covers that for a lot of people; it might be correlated with why some politicians are so eager to defund them completely.
  - Mathnerd314 7y ago
    At least in my town we have some tabloid newspapers, funded mostly by restaurant/concert reviews, but that also publish letters every issue. Most letters are minor but occasionally they do a full-page one about corruption or similar. They also have freelance writers who publish the results of their FOIA requests.
  - DrScump 7y ago
    In SV, Metro (free, weekly) prints some quality journalism from San Jose Inside. Jennifer Wadsworth writes some very thorough pieces.
bart_spoon 7y ago
You may be surprised. I found a podcast covering stories in my midsized, Midwestern suburb by a local reporter that is really solid. Finding these types of programs are hard, but I suspect more people have local news podcasts than you'd think.

davvolun 7y ago

Part of the problem there is spin. There's obviously value in independent, subject-specific news sources, but you also have Alex Jones and InfoWars. It's not a new problem, Rush Limbaugh effectively used radio for the same thing, it's just a serious problem. The so-called radicalization of YouTube is another example.

fossuser 7y ago
Definitely true, but there’s spin everywhere to varying degrees. I agree podcasts on the bad end of the spectrum can be more extreme than TV news, but good podcasts have the time and freedom to discuss a subject in depth with their interviewees. Good ones that try to be honest also have less spin, but it depends a lot on the podcast.