Where Do I Get My News?

When I first arrived in the United States I rapidly picked up on the major news sources that people use (CNN, FOX News, BBC…). What I didn’t understand is why it was considered a personality trait? But then I realized how divided the press is in America. 

    Basically: If you say you watch CNN you are considered a democrat and if you watch Fox News you are considered a republican...After watching both channels one can understand where these labels stem from. But why? As far as I know, the press is responsible for reporting information to the public, not telling them how to feel. 

So after a few years of only reading international press I decided to look for some news sources that I can use to get good, factual information from reliable reporters, here are my 5 top sources of news and information: 

            1- LE MONDE: 

After living in France for a while it became almost vital for me to check lemonde.fr  every morning, As opposed to CNN or Fox News, the information I get on there is far less prejudiced and more authentic. I specifically realized this during the 2016 elections: I remember my friends in high  school having debates on which news source in the best when both are clearly very biased which made me decide to investigate what the international press had to say about the election, there I got a realistic perspective on what was actually going on and from there... It became my favorite news outlet. 

     In my opinion it is a news outlet that is always aware of what is happening around the world...Something that a lot of Americans don’t really seem to care about but is very important to me. I remember being so confused when the Covid-19 pandemic started and I could barely get any info or data on what was happening in my home countries from American news. To me it is important to be aware of how the rest of the world is doing because it allows people to look at the bigger picture and get a better understanding of the situation. 

 

2- TWITTER:TIME...TIME...TIME. It might not be the most reliable, it might not be the most honest, it might not be the whole story… But when something happens twitter always knows first. As a PR person it is impressive to me how news always breaks out on twitter, if a customer is not happy with a product and wants to rant about it online, they are most likely going to use their twitter platform to do so. When something bad is happening around the world and nobody is talking about it, there is most likely going to be an independent journalist on twitter writing about it which leads me to why I love using Twitter as a news outlet: “INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS” To me it is very important to read news articles that are not biased, independent journalists on twitter like MaryEmilyOHara  or daniellewlkr. Now I don't trust everything that I read on Twitter but I will most likely hear about it there.

3- TikTok: Ok, I’m not saying I go on TikTok to get my news but I will say that I have learned a lot about what’s happening around the world by scrolling on that app. Most people that I know have a TikTok account in 2021 and go on it almost everyday. There is a lot that goes on on the app: You can watch something funny, something cute, learn how to cook, cry… But you can also get your news! There people on the app with accounts specifically dedicated to reporting on what's happening around the world @ac2ality For example, she makes one minute videos to talk about 5 events that happened everyday. after doing some research a lot of her followers realized that the facts she was bringing up were true which helped her gain over 106K followers who watch her videos everyday. There are hundreds of people like her who simply report on daily news everyday. Now the older might have an issue or see a problem in GenZ getting their news from an amusement app but I think that it's great, it is amazing that teenagers today can get their news so easily and fast. 

4- World News Tonight With David Muir:

 When I’m bored and just want to learn  about what’s happening around the world I tend to enjoy listening to podcasts, one of my favorites being World News Tonight with David Muir. Now this is far from being my first news outlet I go to when I want information but Muir does a good job at providing facts about a situation, providing information on how the people IN the situation are feeling and then he starts giving his opinion which is honestly when I stop listening but he does his job: he gives me the facts. Podcasts are also enjoyable to listen to after a crisis happens because it provides listeners with different perspectives on a subject and show how the population is feeling about it. 

5- The New York times: If I had to choose one news outlet to read from in America it would have to be The New York Post. according to britannica.com "Its strength is in its editorial excellence; it has never been the largest newspaper in terms of circulation. The Times was established in 1851 as a penny paper that would avoid sensationalism and report the news in a restrained and objective fashion". Which I believe, The New York times does a great job at staying objective and calling out the government, it provides the people with factual information on what the government is doing and why (which is what all of them should do by the way). Overall I like what they report on but I wish they would go more international, it is almost impossible to find an American news outlet that reports on America's actions outside the boarders, this is dangerous knowing that a lot of people in this country would not agree with where their tax money is going.