Where Do You Get Your News?

Posted by Pamela S. on Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

Are you an avid reader of the New York Times, even though you don’t live in New York? Some of us find nothing more satisfying than sitting down on the weekend with that hefty Sunday edition and spending a few hours with the paper. Do you watch CNN, MSNBC or Fox News? Every media outlet has a different slant. To get the real story, you need to cross reference. Where do you get your news?

If you’ve read this blog, you probably notice a lot of links from CNN. I have to confess, it has nothing to do with political bias. I watch and read all the news, but I have a soft spot for  Anderson Cooper, so I end up watching AC360° every night. That said, I don’t take everything I hear on CNN as the truth. My neighbor watches Fox and MSNBC and we compare stories almost every day. That is how I know that we are hearing the same story, but two entirely different versions. This is most noticeable when talking about the election, but this isn’t a political story.

Less people are spending the money for newspapers. Most polls still show TV winning the news wars, but the Internet is making a dent in those statistics. A study by the The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism was released last month and reported that YouTube has become a major player in the news arena. Many younger viewers are getting their news from the video platform, and much of the news is citizen reporting. Not the most reliable source.

I just went on these top three news outlets this morning. Compare the breaking news stories listed in their leads:

MSNBC

• Top story: “Top US general’s aircraft hit by rocket-fire in Afghanistan”
• Stocks hit a new four-year high
• Activists: Japanese journalist killed in Syria
• Calif. slaughterhouse shut after abuse video
• Facebook insider sells majority of his shares
• Five children die as SUV overturns in Texas

CNN

• Top Story: “Nyad quits swim after storm, jellyfish stings”
• Train overturns in town, 2 dead
• Ecuador warns UK about Assange
• Shrapnel hits Joint Chiefs chair’s plane
• Drought closes 11 miles of Mississippi
• Casey Anthony’s probation ending

 

FOX News

• Top Story: “GOP Convention Theme: We Built This”
•  Israelis clear Dublin embassy over suspect parcel
• Nyad ends third attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida
• 9-inch fork lodged in man’s stomach for 10 years
• Iran says it has upgraded a short-range missile
• Siblings killed after bonfire explodes at grad party

I’m sure that these are all interesting stories, but do you really care about most of them, and how relevant is it to your life? You can read all kinds of lifestyle tips such as stories on The Best Airline Food, in the paper or online, but for hard news, you need to check out all sources.

Obviously, if there was some big story, all media would be covering it and they would be doing it their own way.

I’ve mentioned this before, but an excellent source for news is the FBI and other government and law enforcement websites. The news may not be ‘up to the second’, because they don’t have reporters out there lunging for the stories, but these sites provide interesting and accurate stories.

Take the FBI, for example;

On August 9, they posted:

“ A Sordid Scam: Two Receive Life Sentences for Preying on Aspiring Models”

“Some of the aspiring young models thought they were getting the chance of a lifetime when they showed up in South Florida to audition for a man they believed to be a legitimate talent scout. Instead, they were drugged and raped on camera—and the resulting videos were sold on the Internet.” Read the rest of the article by clicking on the title.

Also on August 9, they posted:

“New Internet Scam:‘Ransomware’ Locks Computers, Demands Payment”

“There is a new “drive-by” virus on the Internet, and it often carries a fake message—and fine—purportedly from the FBI. “We’re getting inundated with complaints,” said Donna Gregory of the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), referring to the virus known as Reveton ransomware, which is designed to extort money from its victims.” Read the rest of the article by clicking on the title.

You can listen to FBI Podcasts if you are too busy to read.

The CIA also has some interesting news articles, such as this one posted on August 16, “CORONA: The First Recovery of Film from Space”.

Depending on what interests you, almost every government and law enforcement agency has a news section. Keep up to date with the news in your neighbourhood, from your local law enforcement agency.

Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Sheer has recruited the best from the FBI, DEA, IRS and Secret Service to build a formidable team at Sheer Investigations. Our private investigators have the sensitivity and experience to handle the most delicate investigations.