Monday, February 13, 2017

Microblog Monday - Trust Me

I'm going to start out by saying this is not what I mean to be writing about.

I planned to write about how parenting Lotus is both easier and harder now that she can assert her opinion.

Then I saw an article that a friend linked to on Facebook. Then another friend and another. It was a headline guaranteed to make me see red and start pounding at walls. Then I planned this whole other blog post about how terrible things are today with lawmakers trying to roll us back tot he stone-age.

Then I did my due diligence on the article.  No, I will not link to it. Because--it isn't completely true.  In fact it is mostly untrue.

Is the law talked about in the article reprehensible? Yes.
However, it isn't happening.

With 45's constant and consistent attempt to discredit the media and his reliance on news sites that is demonstrably untrue--though he doesn't see it or acknowledge it--it has been difficult to know where to trust.

I refuse to be like 45 and say "I heard." I have to back it up.  I have taken a page from Mel and trust a few news sources. But I also read other sources so I know what other people are talking about--and in this case, there is enough wrong stuff, it doesn't merit my linking to it. Moreover it doesn't merit my anger.

I miss being able to trust what I read on a news site. But unless it is in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, or NPR--I just can't. I trust these sources because I know how hard it is to meet their journalistic standard.

What news sources do you trust? And why do you trust them?

8 comments:

  1. I'm like you. I don't link to articles, and I don't dare to debate with anyone on the basis of something I've read, unless a trusted news source has reported on them.

    In terms of our domestic news, the government-owned sources are very reliable (our equivalent of NPR is my go-to source). In terms of US news, I find it extraordinary that there are so many sources that are blatantly pushing an agenda one way or the other.

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  2. You named my four sources, too (though I lean more towards BBC than the Atlantic). I also look at it as having limited time. Keeping up with those four sources takes a lot of time, too.

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  3. Those are all good sources. I would add some of our Canadian sources -- the CBC, the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Star. The G&M is slightly right of centre & the Torstar leans left, but they both do some good work.

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  4. Yeah you have to be wary of some of the things people share on facebook. I would trust things like BBC news and the Irish Times and Spiegel here in Germany.

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  5. Like the others, I've noticed BBC is one of the most unbiased news sources.

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  6. I trust those sources as well. I didn't think of the BBC as some commenters have said though. That's a good suggestion.

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  7. It is very frustrating sorting through information and trying to figure out what's real. Although, getting facts wrong isn't a completely new phenomenon, and I don't trust any outlet 100%.

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  8. I like NPR because they do a bit more analysis than most places. Also the NY Times, BBC, and the Guardian (I started reading it about 6 years ago during the phone hacking scandal in the UK; they've since started a US-oriented site and do quite a bit of US political coverage). I was a big C-SPAN watcher (I love Washington Journal) but needed to take a break from that for sanity reasons. I'll go back to that soon.

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