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Stop Reading News (2013)

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Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#81

Post by samcday »

As an uneducated ignoramus, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I only recently discovered JSTOR Daily (https://daily.jstor.org/). Marrying current events / open policy debates / political trends to hard research is really doing it for me lately.

Surface level "on the ground" reporting of who farted 15 seconds ago in the White House has its use, certainly. But I much prefer to read a thoughtful piece on the frequency at which people have historically farted in the White House. That way I can contrast it with the behaviors of the current ruling party. It can also be supplemented with analysis into how society's view on White House farts has evolved in tandem with the so-and-so Revolution or the such-and-such cultural shift. All of this being sourced from research steeped in hard evidence.

Aside from JSTOR Daily, what other recommendations can people provide for this kind of quality journalism?

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#82

Post by rjtavares »

nkozyra wrote: post #70

Do not stop reading news. Be selective with your sources. Be a discerning news consumer. An uninformed populace is a malleable one. Controlling and limiting information has long been a strategy for despots or worse. > The point is, most of what you read online today is pointless Don't read that then. Read sources you believe are important to you and deliver information that is important. Be a discerning news consumer…

> Don't read that then. Read sources you believe are important to you and deliver information that is important.

Yes, but also make an offer to read sources that provide a different point of view from your own. There should be smart people who you disagree with. Find those people.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#83

Post by dgellow »

nkozyra wrote: post #70

Do not stop reading news. Be selective with your sources. Be a discerning news consumer. An uninformed populace is a malleable one. Controlling and limiting information has long been a strategy for despots or worse. > The point is, most of what you read online today is pointless Don't read that then. Read sources you believe are important to you and deliver information that is important. Be a discerning news consumer…

You can be informed without following news. Often reading books/articles produced some time after an event gives a more nuanced and in-depth analysis.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#84

Post by nkozyra »

justtopost wrote: post #78
nkozyra wrote: post #70

Do not stop reading news. Be selective with your sources. Be a discerning news consumer. An uninformed populace is a malleable one. Controlling and limiting information has long been a strategy for despots or worse. > The point is, most of what you read online today is pointless Don't read that then. Read sources you believe are important to you and deliver information that is important. Be a discerning news consumer…

You seem to mean well, but your post is also a recipie for creating a personal bubble, no matter how well spoken.

News literacy is a critical problem today, moreso than ever before.

It may seem as though I glossed over that, but my larger point is people need to understand what news is and means first.

A bubble is inevitable in either event, finite time ensures that.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#85

Post by zazen »

elorant wrote: post #80

The beef I have with journalism is that every time they write on a topic I have good knowledge of, I find their coverage to be lame and lacking depth. Which leads me to a more generalized assumption that this is probably true for any given subject, except perhaps politics. Most notable example I can think of is how the media covers A.I. issues. I don't expect newspapers to have book quality analysis but at the very l…

This has a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gell-Mann_amnesia_effect

Although I think it bears saying that journalists really might be doing a better job of reporting on the politics that is their own main interest than on the science stories which are far outside their own interest and expertise, and which they may well regard as lower priority for accuracy.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#86

Post by sureaboutthis »

Theodores wrote: post #71
skilled wrote: post #6

For the last 4-5 years, Hacker News has been pretty much my only source of any kind of news outside of the topics that I work with on a daily basis. This is true. Before that, I did not read newspapers or follow any kind of journalism. I still recall being around age 12 or 13 and making a conscious decision not to watch TV anymore. It has been around just as much time since I last saw a TV news report. Maybe it has s…

HN is a good filter. If it makes it to HN and happens in the real world then it probably is worth taking note. Regarding your choice not to watch TV at age 12-13, this reminds me of reading tabloid newspapers at that age or possibly earlier. It all seemed so much below me and for people that must be thick.

HN is NOT a good filter though it's better than some. Judging by the person's statement, he is around 18 years old. For all I know, so are you. And so are 80% of anonymous "news" sources posted here.

Anonymous postings on the internet, no matter where, are the worst thing that has happened to civilization since anonymous reports to the police of wrongdoings of a neighbor.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#87

Post by nkozyra »

dgellow wrote: post #83
nkozyra wrote: post #70

Do not stop reading news. Be selective with your sources. Be a discerning news consumer. An uninformed populace is a malleable one. Controlling and limiting information has long been a strategy for despots or worse. > The point is, most of what you read online today is pointless Don't read that then. Read sources you believe are important to you and deliver information that is important. Be a discerning news consumer…

You can be informed without following news. Often reading books/articles produced some time after an event gives a more nuanced and in-depth analysis.

I don't disagree, but the time that passes limits your ability to respond in the present.

Don't eschew current news because it's slight, because it's invite, because it's simplistic in form. That's the point.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#88

Post by sureaboutthis »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #27
skilled wrote: post #6

For the last 4-5 years, Hacker News has been pretty much my only source of any kind of news outside of the topics that I work with on a daily basis. This is true. Before that, I did not read newspapers or follow any kind of journalism. I still recall being around age 12 or 13 and making a conscious decision not to watch TV anymore. It has been around just as much time since I last saw a TV news report. Maybe it has s…

HN is my news feed for tech, but I have realised that my news feed for "rest of the world" has reduced down to radio / TV weekly comedy shows. Things like BBC news quiz or Mock The Week, (similar to US's John Oliver/ Steve Colbert) actually do a fairly good job of capturing the headlines and providing concise updates. As well as enough cynicism to keep me on my toes. The only time it failed me was a few years back wh…

You have just stated that your source of news is comedians who were doing standup routines in nightclubs before their current TV gig and, in fact, still do comedy at night clubs (John Oliver for one).

That's OK. A lot of people aren't aware of that. You can fix that.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#89

Post by afiori »

nkozyra wrote: post #70

Do not stop reading news. Be selective with your sources. Be a discerning news consumer. An uninformed populace is a malleable one. Controlling and limiting information has long been a strategy for despots or worse. > The point is, most of what you read online today is pointless Don't read that then. Read sources you believe are important to you and deliver information that is important. Be a discerning news consumer…

> An uninformed populace is a malleable one.

A overreacting population is even more malleable.

>This isn't news, it's opinion. Don't read this.

>Be a discerning news consumer.

Media, even big mainstream media, is very flexible regarding the distinction between news and opinion; the latest big example being the maga-kids and how people were rewriting the same articles over and over on debunked facts.

I am not saying to stop following the news, but more than reading trusted sources you should mostly distrust most news. In this context I like how Tim Pool describe how too many journalist are in a twitter bubble.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#90

Post by anonu »

The 2 principles of anonu apply here:

1. Moderation in all things

2. The devil is in the details. There's a bit more nuance to the situation.

Your attention is yours. What happens in the media, Facebook, etc... Is an attempt to take your attention. For the most part your allocation is spent where the biggest dopamine hit can come from. If you start valuing your attention based more on an ROI calculation where your return is "did I learn something useful from a balanced source that can help form my world view?" Then you quickly start to cut out the BS.

Here are my tips for high ROI consumption:

Read long form articles about a subject. Skip over them if needed so a as not to waste time.

Call BS early. Poorly written books or articles should be nixed immediately.

Avoid the sugar: low ROI stuff like Instagram, Facebook, Reddit

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