Most news agencies out there are thinly veiled twitter commentary: they pick hot takes, wrap them into clickbaity headlines and stuff with their personal opinions. Most outlets are also very partisan and boringly predictable. I guess, honest news reporting and journalism doesnt pay much these days.
Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
51–60 of 262 posts
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#52I’ve found that text.npr.org is really good for me. They don’t have pagination, only a handful of new articles a day, and no images. The lack of images really helps with some graphic stories being less emotionally impactful. Other than that, I just check hackernews.
Images are half the propaganda of a news story. The picture often is what the news sources wants you to think, regardless of the facts.
I like the text.some_newsite approach.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#53I have reduced it by about 90%, not counting tech news (which I can actually use, and which are generally fun) and news about the Ukraine war.
People will always call you out for doing things different, or not differently, from them. In reality most news is terrible and does not inform you. This includes all news about politics, which is anyway mostly staged.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#54I went dark for six months in 2019. I treated the news like Game of Thrones spoilers-- I worked really hard to stay un-informed. The result was that I was absolutely happier, more focused and a better father. I recommend such a sabbatical to anyone who will listen. Try it for 30 days.
Coincidentally, I just turned on my domain blocker again this evening (I use Freedom.to, it syncs all your devices on the ban-list to avoid unconsciously opening up news sites out of habit).
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#55As datapoint agree and I do the same. Not using FB, not following anyone, only using it for interest groups.
Not using linkedin, it is trash.
Have Instagram but not using it. too much effort in posting a photo, see no point in showing off (usually a show off platform)
Twitter - gone crazy last week, most recommendations are irrelevant and interactions not genuine. I do use it to be informed though, better than watching cable filled with ads.
So yes, there is no good platform to connect with the world.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#56Yes, I have done exactly what you described recently. I live in Ukraine and all our mass media are wartime-censoured, so I got rid of them first. Russian media which are speaking not from Russia usually are good source of info about war but I seem to be overloaded with war news, so I got rid of it next. Russian IT sources like habrahabr.ru are steadily degrading in quality of content and fraction of content per adwar…
я американець але читаю без англійською в Твіттер... моя думка -- it depends on who you follow.
And yet, I feel like you do but in the opposite direction with English media. The only thing that is good in English for me now is old books.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#57Yes. Also stopped using social media almost completely. Don't have Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Have a Twitter but use it rarely. Stick to Whatsapp - that at least has people I want to stay in touch with. I also don't go on Reddit much anymore. Besides a waste of time, I always found that site to have a deeply corrosive community. I'm active here because the quality of discussion at HN has stayed rock solid. I alwa…
Reddit is still pretty good for very niche topics, some are surprisingly technical.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#58I’m going darker by the day. I don’t seek out news, and when I do read it, I tend to feel disturbed by how little it presents as reporting, and instead, how much it appears to have an agenda. I could do better. I followed the Ukraine-Russia war for a while, and although I wasn’t glued to it, I put too much focus on it. There is literally nothing that happens if I know what’s going on there. Nothing at all. It distrac…
Just today I ran across this widely promoted ABC/CBS article claiming that "Texas, Oklahoma ranked among least safest states in the country". The type of supposedly non-opinion flavor piece syndicated above-the-fold in Windows 11 Search, Apple News, Android home pages, and Reddit/Twitter defaults.
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-oklahoma-ranked-among...
It turns out that it is wholly based on a corporate PR puff piece by Wallethub, with a very pseudoscientific and manipulative use of statistics to reach its conclusions. The arbitrary weight assigned to the entire category of physical and property crimes was 15%. Bullying incident count was weighted as more important than drug overdoses. And when factoring in Covid, they weighted based on vaccination rates - not actual local hospitalizations/deaths.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#59I don’t think you should live without news. Being informed and discussing things happening around us is a natural expectation of community. I suggest find a balanced way to consume some so you can be reasonably well informed. It’s not social media that is entirely bad, rather it’s the notifications and infinite scrolling feed which cause cognitive overload. I changed my consumption habits and don’t open news apps min…
Why should I care what the expectation of a community is?
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#60Yes. Also stopped using social media almost completely. Don't have Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Have a Twitter but use it rarely. Stick to Whatsapp - that at least has people I want to stay in touch with. I also don't go on Reddit much anymore. Besides a waste of time, I always found that site to have a deeply corrosive community. I'm active here because the quality of discussion at HN has stayed rock solid. I alwa…
Reddit is still pretty good for very niche topics, some are surprisingly technical.
Small niche communities are great. But the big, popular ones are downright toxic.