Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Friday December 28 2018, @05:19PM   Printer-friendly
from the who-do-you-trust? dept.

For on-line news, what sites do you avoid and which ones do you seek out as being trustworthy?

Thanks to my position as an editor on SoylentNews, I've had the privilege of viewing story submissions which have referenced a veritable plethora of different sources. It has been a privilege to serve you these past few years. My goal has been to provide stories that cover a diversity of areas but always with an attempt to provide level-headed background. I strive to avoid shrill in-your-face!!!!elevnty! diatribes. To invoke a common mis-quotation "Just the facts, ma'am." Full confession: I'm not above posting an occasional funny or feel-good story, either.

Over time, I've come to learn that some sources are more reputable than others. News outlets are comprised of people who have their own biases; some try to remain objective whereas others use their position to push an agenda.

For example, I've learned here that RT is a mouthpiece for the Russian government (A modern-day Pravda, if you will).

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), on the other hand, is funded primarily through a television license costing £147 per year per household. But, it has received a funding boost from government to expand its global reach.

Fox News has had complaints about its content and has had its share of controversies. But even some commonly-held beliefs about Fox News have proved exaggerated and not fully supported by the facts.

ScienceDaily, phys.org, CNET, Quora, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), ESA (European Space Agency), Spaceflight Now, weather.gov, and Hurricane Prediction Center are just some of the sites that I have found especially helpful.

So, I turn to the SoylentNews community:

  • What biases have you found with MSM (main-stream media)?
  • what 'news' sites do YOU avoid? Why?
  • where do YOU find trustworthy, unbiased, fact-supported news?

Bonus question: What would you think of a news story on SoylentNews whose only supporting link is CNN? Fox News? Breitbart?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 29 2018, @07:44AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 29 2018, @07:44AM (#779621)

    The problem with most 'news' is that facts are generally absent. By facts, I mean the kind of thing that you can really only find out after a serious investigation that could only be done months after the 'news' breaks.

    The 'facts' that are contained in news are all filtered through sources 'alleging' something, or a scatter gun of random bits of information vaguely pertaining to a topic. Even something that you'd think is 'hard evidence' generally turns out to be wrong in some way when you research "what ever happened to ..." three months later.

    In general, most news is negative value information that has no bearing to anything but being able to have "what did you think about..?" conversations at the water cooler. A random sampling of some fear mongering or faux triumph amidst the thousands of other equally valid events that aren't reported is only useful to turn general opinion on some random topic/agenda.

    Actual useful news is generally localised. Like Tsunami/Tornado/etc heading towards city X. Water restriction / rolling blackouts over the next week due to Y. And maybe, L signed into law, so the current and future regime can now do M.

    But instead we get a tirade of 'Z' arrested for doing something 'alleged'. Here's their address, we have no actual researched facts, but go lynch them anyway. Or 'bad shit' happens somewhere remote like it does everyday of the year, but today we want you to be shitting your pants so you keep voting for the next authoritarian law to 'keep the children safe'.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Insightful=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   2