3 ms·

NPR takes the cake for most deteriorated one-good news source over NYT. It is a real shame.

by screye 5y ago

seattle_spring 5y ago
What are some better sources for news that you'd recommend?
- screye 5y ago
  I have started reading independent sources, especially those who can serve as 1st sources or are genuine experts. By and large, anyone who reports on something within hours of the news coming out or act as secondary sources are not worth your time. Eg: Stratchery for tech, Sinocism for China, Derek Lowe for drug development, Razib Khan for Genomics based anthropology etc. I also follow a select few twitter handles that do all the 1st source reporting on specific topics. This is super useful for war/contentious zones like the Middle East & Kashmir, etc. Statistically sound sources like 538 and Pew Research tend to be pretty good too. In some cases, reading somewhat biased sources on each side is also helpful. Sources like Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Greenwald, etc., all have their biases, but they have a high moral bar. They never lie, but their biases do make them opine in ways that can sometimes include jumping to conclusions or purposely ignoring possible causations. Either ways, they are a part of healthy media diet. I generally like things coming out of the Rat-o-sphere & Scott Alexander, as they have a high bar on what constitutes a good source or proof. The Economist and The Atlantic have been doing relatively good even handed reporting. NYT seems like it is in an internal crisis, but it does occasionally produce gems when reporting as 1st sources. WaPo/Guardian/BBC have long stopped being worth my time. In India, I really like The Print. Hope that helps.
  - wutbrodo 5y ago
    I agree with 100% of this except for Klein. He and Noah Smith baffle me in that they seem to be smart but are somehow constantly, extremely wrong, and consistently engage with others in intellectually dishonest ways. It's super bizarre (in particular because my overall worldview is pretty similar to theirs).

NPR takes the cake for most deteriorated one-good news source over NYT. It is a real shame.

by screye 5y ago

NPR takes the cake for most deteriorated one-good news source over NYT. It is a real shame.

seattle_spring 5y ago

What are some better sources for news that you'd recommend?

screye 5y ago
I have started reading independent sources, especially those who can serve as 1st sources or are genuine experts. By and large, anyone who reports on something within hours of the news coming out or act as secondary sources are not worth your time. Eg: Stratchery for tech, Sinocism for China, Derek Lowe for drug development, Razib Khan for Genomics based anthropology etc. I also follow a select few twitter handles that do all the 1st source reporting on specific topics. This is super useful for war/contentious zones like the Middle East & Kashmir, etc. Statistically sound sources like 538 and Pew Research tend to be pretty good too. In some cases, reading somewhat biased sources on each side is also helpful. Sources like Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Greenwald, etc., all have their biases, but they have a high moral bar. They never lie, but their biases do make them opine in ways that can sometimes include jumping to conclusions or purposely ignoring possible causations. Either ways, they are a part of healthy media diet. I generally like things coming out of the Rat-o-sphere & Scott Alexander, as they have a high bar on what constitutes a good source or proof. The Economist and The Atlantic have been doing relatively good even handed reporting. NYT seems like it is in an internal crisis, but it does occasionally produce gems when reporting as 1st sources. WaPo/Guardian/BBC have long stopped being worth my time. In India, I really like The Print. Hope that helps.
- wutbrodo 5y ago
  I agree with 100% of this except for Klein. He and Noah Smith baffle me in that they seem to be smart but are somehow constantly, extremely wrong, and consistently engage with others in intellectually dishonest ways. It's super bizarre (in particular because my overall worldview is pretty similar to theirs).