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Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

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Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#251

Post by peteforde »

kristopolous wrote: post #237
peteforde wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand why you'd reach this conclusion. I would like to offer another viewpoint for you and others reading this to consider. Simply put, you are underestimating the impact you have on those around you. Every media literate and well-informed critical thinker has the ability to dramatically change someone's perspective. Not just by knowing what to say, but even more importantly how to listen. Empathetic 1:1 conve…

News isn't critical political theory though. If you wanted to become well versed in, say, Marx, you don't get there through watching the news, you just read Marx. Go on eBay, buy a couple used books, read them instead. They'll have quite a bit more insight than a Twitter stream

I'd prefer that you not put words in my mouth when it's such an important concern. I didn't come close to suggesting that news == critical political theory.

Media literacy is actually the opposite of just consuming a lot of news. There is absolutely a skillset that must be developed and exercised which allows an individual to see patterns and tune their BS detector. News - even FOX "news", contextualized - is all necessary and loaded with information. It just isn't the information Rupert Murdoch and pals consciously engineer.

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#252

Post by flatfilefan »

Dirlewanger wrote: post #149
vwpolo3 wrote: post #68

The problem is that online news sources are (almost) all the same - low budget, second tier silos of mostly trainee journalists. They have an emphasis on clicks and outrage and constant updates to keep you engaged and are a secondary (or tertiary) driver of revenue. The only exception I know of are The New York Times and maybe The Intercept. My tip is to read a (or more) actual (read: printed) newspapers: - they are…

The Intercept started out strong, but has also devolved into reactionary clickbait-y crap as of late (also hosts pieces written by unrepentant race-baiters like Shaun King). Really sad as I used to like them. It seems those with hard paywalls that don't have to rely on clickbait-y headlines are able to have a bit more integrity (who would have known?!). Foreign Affairs is generally pretty good for actual analysis on…

Try out Le Monde Diplomatique if you like Foreign Affairs

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#253

Post by peteforde »

RookyNumbas wrote: post #146
peteforde wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand why you'd reach this conclusion. I would like to offer another viewpoint for you and others reading this to consider. Simply put, you are underestimating the impact you have on those around you. Every media literate and well-informed critical thinker has the ability to dramatically change someone's perspective. Not just by knowing what to say, but even more importantly how to listen. Empathetic 1:1 conve…

Yes, empathetic 1:1 conversation is critical, and yes you can have a huge impact on those around you. But this has nothing to do with keeping up to date with news. Facts will not change your racist uncle's opinion. 99% of the news you consume will have absolutely 0 effect on your ability to convince others to be better. Develop a vision for your life. Become an expert in topics that are important to you. Read good bo…

You are, forgivably, projecting several assumptions onto my words. Give me an attempt to clarify my intent further.

As I explained in another reply, I am not advocating for keeping up to date with the news so much as I refuse to absolve smart people from accepting responsibility for confident media literacy, and it's hard to be media literate without at least parsing what's being reported so that you can reason about it, even amongst people who are in your bubble. I am suggesting that if you think you can avoid this step and still be able to hold your own in a discourse, you are willfully proving the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Our goal should not be to enter a conversation intended to change the racist uncle's opinion. That is, indeed and sadly, a fool's errand. But it's also the wrong tactic.

I would argue that the #1 goal of such a family dinner should be to listen compassionately, being the progressive that defies all of the stereotypes about elitist, know-it-all coastal intellectuals, and choose your battles really, really carefully. At the very least, the other people observing are judging every subtle nuance of what's going down, and even though uncle racist will still likely be a terrible person after dessert, the other six people at the table will find themselves much more confident that you quietly made him look like an asshole.

The left is far too hung up on the shallow win of a "fully pwned" outcome, where the racist uncle is sobbing and begging for forgiveness and promising to lead a better life. Not only is this a stupid goal, it's insulting to the fact that your racist uncle probably has some ideas that are not fully wrong. The notion that the left is right and the right is dumb is roughly 95% of the problem.

I am typically not quick to delegate my points to video, but I was really impressed by this Big Think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFfWv0EnHQw

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#254

Post by peteforde »

a3n wrote: post #139
peteforde wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand why you'd reach this conclusion. I would like to offer another viewpoint for you and others reading this to consider. Simply put, you are underestimating the impact you have on those around you. Every media literate and well-informed critical thinker has the ability to dramatically change someone's perspective. Not just by knowing what to say, but even more importantly how to listen. Empathetic 1:1 conve…

Has any racist uncle ever been turned? Or is that also a waste of time and effort? I do agree that a responsible citizen must stay informed. But you need to direct your efforts to the possible and impactful.

I left a longer reply on another comment, but if you're interested and willing, I think that this Big Think clip sums it up (for me): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFfWv0EnHQw

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#255

Post by rrrrrrrrrrrryan »

jrockway wrote: post #140
threatofrain wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Financial establishment kind of conservative, not what many would think of American conservatism in general.

I disagree with that. The stuff from the newsroom is basically identical to what you'd read in the New York Times, and doesn't seem very conservatively biased. Put the NYT's CSS on there and you'd not think anything was out of place. There is a little bit more of a focus on "business" articles; what company is buying what other company, how well the semiconductor industry is going to do this year, etc. I never see th…

I subscribe to both as well. They both have journalistic integrity and try their best to report facts without bias, but I think it's a little disingenuous to suggest that their own biases don't unintentionally leak into the publications.

> It's just what they choose to cover.

I think these choices matter. Based on the stories they choose to run, the NYT comes across as undoubtedly intersectional, a bit globalist, and pro-market in the Bill Clinton sense. In contrast, the WSJ doesn't write much about social issues and is a more explicit proponent of free trade. It's a subtle distinction -- I'm sure the staff of each are amiable toward each other and mingle freely in New York City -- but if you had to collapse all their viewpoints into a single point on a 1-dimensional scale, they would land on slightly different places on the left-right political spectrum.

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#256

Post by hieloz »

yorwba wrote: post #75
vwpolo3 wrote: post #68

The problem is that online news sources are (almost) all the same - low budget, second tier silos of mostly trainee journalists. They have an emphasis on clicks and outrage and constant updates to keep you engaged and are a secondary (or tertiary) driver of revenue. The only exception I know of are The New York Times and maybe The Intercept. My tip is to read a (or more) actual (read: printed) newspapers: - they are…

https://newshound.co/editions/en-us/ is pretty good for seeing how many news articles published by different outlets are actually written by AP/Reuters/etc. and only modified slightly. I think the site was originally intended to allow users to choose the article from their preferred outlet, but I rarely find myself interested in reading any of the grouped articles.

Similar website like https://www.zaqs.org/home.html, You can customize the news sources and track original content news websites.

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#257

Post by a3n »

peteforde wrote: post #254
a3n wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has any racist uncle ever been turned? Or is that also a waste of time and effort? I do agree that a responsible citizen must stay informed. But you need to direct your efforts to the possible and impactful.

I left a longer reply on another comment, but if you're interested and willing, I think that this Big Think clip sums it up (for me): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFfWv0EnHQw

That was interesting, thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#258

Post by bjourne »

eric_cc wrote: post #135
cryptoz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's almost zero pieces of actionable information. I don't agree with this. The news is filled with actionable information. If nothing more than constant reporting of problems, many of which could be solved with new businesses - there is value in knowing about that if only to be better positioned to start businesses. The world is full of people in pain, and often the news reports on that. That is actionable info…

How many times in your life have you personally watched a news story about somebody suffering that caused you to leap off your couch and take action?

A bunch of times have news stories caused me to donate money and write angry emails to politicians. Especially the horrifying 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#259

Post by trykondev »

alkank wrote: post #150

I read The Economist. Reasons and benefits I have seen so far are: 1. It's weekly. "World this week" section is more than enough to have a summary of what has happened throughout the globe and I can get this information in less than 5 minutes. If you are interested in being more up-to-date, you can also try Economist Espresso, which is daily. 2. It's not only about world news, but also has different sections such as…

Over the past few months I've been consciously reducing my time spent on news sites/reddit/social media. It's been a huge benefit to my available time & overall level of focus, but that change has definitely left me craving some more legitimate & compelling articles to read and I've been feeling a bit "out of the loop". The Economist sounds like a wonderful recommendation & I've just subscribed based on reading your comment -- thanks so much for the suggestion!

Re: Ask HN: What are your news sources other than HN?

#260

Post by [deleted] »

jknoepfler wrote: post #122
sunkenvicar wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fox News is by far the most popular cable TV news network. Many people also read their website. Would you like to share your news sources?

"By far" - false "Popular" - lol, chinese state media is an order of magnitude more popular, do you think it's an order of magnitude more trustworthy? I personally read the economist, ny times, and wsj for short-cycle online content. I listen to npr in the car, and then... I don't know, read constantly? Everything? Tech blogs? trade journals? History books? Literature? Religious shit? I struggle to keep up with the w…

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