It's so easy especially in the world of social media to become insulated. To only read news about ones friends and family. But it is important to be an informed citizen for both practical reasons - such as to make an informed vote - and for the reason that you and I are humans just like everyone on this planet. And it's a sign of respect to at least know and acknowledge what is happening around the world.
With that said, I'm pretty terrible when it comes to staying informed on the news. Mostly because the news focusses on the bad stuff - the shootings, the civil unrests. Not to say that those stories aren't important to know, but I'm sure there are so many other stories out there deserve just as much attention and aren't so depressing.
There are a few methods in which I get my news - radio, tv, newspaper and online.
NEWSPAPER // The old fashioned way of receiving news. The daily delivery on the doorstep filled with pages of articles. At school, I don't get a newspaper, but at home we get the daily delivery of the local newspaper. The local newspaper, though often biased, tells stories about your neighbors and community. On Sundays we receive
The New York Times, which has national and global news. The times also includes many other features such as fashion and book reviews, and editorials. The wonderful thing about newspapers is that you'll often end up at an article that you wouldn't necessarily arrive at if you were just searching the web. Newspaper articles are often vetted more than online articles making them more accurate. The downsides are that it wastes paper, and though newspaper will try to be unbiased, every one has some bias.
RADIO // I'm not talking about the talk shows, like 105.9 here in Colorado (shout out to Slacker and Steve), but rather the only news channel that I'm aware of: National Public Radio (NPR). NPR is perfect for car rides. The stories are varied and usually no longer than 10 minute segments and NPR makes sure to cover any breaking news. Your local station also airs state news on the channel as well. During the night, one receives the BBC, an international broadcasting corporation. NPR is perhaps one the least biased forms of media out there, and I love the variety of stories. They have theme days too, such as Science Friday, where they cover breaking science news, and they don't shy away from any story. I often find, that because of the variety, that there are fewer depressing news stories than in the papers. The downsides are that I often forget about it when I'm not driving, even though it's accessible on the internet.
TELEVISION // My suggestion - don't watch the typical television news stations (CNN, FOX, CNBC etc). More than once, these stations have been shown to be extremely repetitive, biased towards their advertisers, corporations, the mainstream view, and sensationalism. In order to keep the program running and accessible, they will also report views too concisely, cutting out relevant nuances. Television news isn't just news now - it's people giving opinions on the news. A few decent stations are
Al Jazeera in its ability to report on news
outside the United States, and, surprisingly, comedy channels, such as
The Colbert Report, The Daily Show and
The John Oliver Show. These shows give you the news in laughable form and often highlight the flaws on the national news stations. I'm not saying that one should use these shows exclusively for news, but they do provide a decent overview of issues at hand and can lead to more research on the topics - for example check out John Oliver's piece on
Net Neutrality.
THE INTERNET // This is perhaps the most risky and inefficient way to learn about the goings and happenings around the world, but it's also the most convenient. I think the most important aspect here is to read websites from all sides of the aisle. You have to be wary that you don't fall into the bias of only reading news from the websites with the same political views as you. Once again, the
BBC does a good job at highlighting world news stories, and
The Guardian as well.
The Guardian is equivalent to your major city newspapers in the US -
The New York Times,
The Los Angeles Times etc. But these websites can require paying subscriptions for the articles past the main page. For the stories that don't always make national news, I used to turn to
The Huffington Post, but this sight has increasingly geared toward being more sensational rather than accurate. For views from across the aisle on the same stories I look at the
Daily Kos and the
Red State - but you have to be
extremely wary on these sights.
I think the most important thing, though, is to also read news in your field of interest. I enjoy the more science oriented
Pacific Standard magazine. And have begun to find sources that cater to my major.
Just remember to stay curious and stay informed. It's not only your right, but your responsibility.
