Comment by vwpolo3 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by vwpolo3 | Hacker News Reader

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 printed daily or weekly (e.g. The Economist), keeping you out of the "Breaking News" loop every 60 minutes; - they have more weight within the news organization because they are the primary driver of revenue; - are therefore written by actual professional journalists in a proper journalistic process.

I recommend just picking up any news paper and comparing that to the online presence of that news paper, you will notice the tremendous difference.

In my opinion, a lot of the "media mistrust" comes from the constant barrage of so-called "news" articles with the primary goal of being shared on social media and bubbling up in Google News. Just check how many news articles are 1:1 copies of AP or any other news conglomerate.

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.

I like the same thing about https://techmeme.com/ if I click the arrow next to a story, it shows me everyone covering it, but they use editorial discretion to chose the "best" coverage, whether that be the first copy, or the first good copy.

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

There’s a reason it seems online sources are the same. Step outside the conglomerates, and choose independent news.

See the following list for a “growing number of independent news sources available to anyone with internet access. The following are only a sampling of those alternatives. Most state that they are “non-partisan, independent and non-profit.” Some are more transparent than others; a couple even outline a code of journalistic ethics their company follows.”

https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/A-Real-Need-for-the-Real...

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 world events (it's politics, yes, but they are good at what they do).

Try out Le Monde Diplomatique if you like Foreign Affairs

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