Reliable news sources

[randomrogue]

Thought we'd tackle our lack of news sources. I'd love to find new ones since I feel like a lot of the big outlets really use a formula to drive sales.

An article about:

1. A murder or massacre
2. North Korea, Iran, or some other "rogue nation" and how they're a danger to the USA. Lately China has been prominent in this section.
3. Tabloid trash.
4. Republicans vs Democrats
5. War

And a whole bunch of fluff or other issues that are meant to divide us. Take one look at foxnews right now and you'll get the picture. NBCnews right now is just as bad. It's the same thing everyday. It's not even news. It's just entertainment and promotes very little constructive dialog or change. It tells me almost nothing.

So how about a list of new sources that are trustworthy and give both good facts as well as good opinion articles? If they lean in a direction (foxnews - Right, MSNBC - left) then say so.

I like the Economist, many of the shows on NPR, BBC world, and have strayed away from sites like ABC and CNN as well as those 3 I listed above. I then read quite a bit of foreign stuff but the only one in English that I check occasionally would be Aljazeera just to see their take on big stories. Oh and before someone says The Onion, I call dibs on that joke. Can't have it. Every once in a while I'll check the local papers like the LA Times. They lean left but my quest for neutral news sources continues.

 

[TraumaRN]

This I can relate to.

Generally speaking I lean on multiple sources. I tend to avoid MSNBC and FoxNews but I'll go there because occasionally they report on something lesser known.

CNN is ehhh ok, but they try too hard in my opinion.

I do like BBC World, the Sydney Morning Herald(just most for a different point of view on an incident), I will read my local papers, Detroit Free Press and Detroit News as one is a bit right leaning the other left leaning. I'll check out NPR as well.

But like you it is truly hard to find good reliable journalism of any kind. Mostly I read things and always take the skeptics viewpoint on what I'm reading, especially if it's political, or a hot button social or moral issue. In the meantime I will continue to seek out the best source of neutral news/reporting. Kind of feels like an endless search though.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/

 

[waggy]

you can't just read one source.

I try to avoid Fox and MSNBC. they are so slanted at times it can be funny. the same story with such huge slants.

i jump around and read many articles. if its something interesting i do a search on it.

 

[TraumaRN]

I did leave one out. The daily show with Jon Stewart. Yeah I watch it for the humor but occasionally he actually has a better viewpoint on major issues....which is sad really given that the show is supposed to be satire.

 

[randomrogue]

Newshour is good. I think I get that through NPR though. Sometimes it's really hard to remember where I'm getting everything since I've been doing a lot by podcast lately being overseas. Talk of the Nation, All things considered, etc.

Jon Stewart insults my intelligence most of the time but he's really hit the nail on the head a few times and when those clips pop up on facebook or here I'll definitely check them out and appreciate an alternative perspective. His take on the Republican primaries for example was not only hilarious but true as well.

We get a free newspaper on the subway here that I think is neutral. The problem is that the articles are all very short. It's pretty much just a blanket statement of basic fact and nothing else. It's not a bad way to get basic news at 6am though.

 

[Theb]

You can't beat Al Jazeera for hard news, hard news is hard to listen to though, I can understand why people prefer the sanitized and glamorized version our cable news networks provide. BBC is very good too.

 

[zinfamous]

Newshour is good. I think I get that through NPR though. Sometimes it's really hard to remember where I'm getting everything since I've been doing a lot by podcast lately being overseas. Talk of the Nation, All things considered, etc.

Jon Stewart insults my intelligence most of the time but he's really hit the nail on the head a few times and when those clips pop up on facebook or here I'll definitely check them out and appreciate an alternative perspective. His take on the Republican primaries for example was not only hilarious but true as well.

We get a free newspaper on the subway here that I think is neutral. The problem is that the articles are all very short. It's pretty much just a blanket statement of basic fact and nothing else. It's not a bad way to get basic news at 6am though.

Newshour is my favorite. Between that and BBC, I feel like I get all that I need.

If Jon Stewart wasn't insulting your intelligence, then he wouldn't be doing his job as a comedian But I agree--he too often hits the nail on the head, and it can be either enlightening, or painful.

 

[Craig234]

A very good source for opinion/commentary is www.commondreams.org. It has many writers' pieces posted daily.

A great source for 'issue articles' is Salon.com. They're pretty reliable and are a rare source with a lot of original reporting (e.g., they broke the abu ghraib photos with CBS).

For news, I'd say Al Jazeera English and BBC are both good. Also the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. Of course the New York Times is usually good.

Finally, I'm very impressed with a show I recently discovered, Dan Rather reports on axl.tv (cable). He does a really good weekly show on various topics.

Oh, and 60 Minutes has some good things.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

I see Al Jazeera happened to get a nice endorsement from Fox News today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ik75uG-bpgI

 

[waggy]

I see Al Jazeera happened to get a nice endorsement from Fox News today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ik75uG-bpgI

don't forget Al gore. He loves Al Jazeera

 

[Craig234]

I see Al Jazeera happened to get a nice endorsement from Fox News today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ik75uG-bpgI

It's humorous how ironic that is and easy to turn around on them. Fox News "infiltrated" America. Amazing how a news service doing business is "infiltrating".

 

[Theb]

I see Al Jazeera happened to get a nice endorsement from Fox News today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ik75uG-bpgI

Wow that's crazy. I wonder if they can feel shame.

I also wonder how many people see something like that and go check out Al Jazeera online to learn about this apparent threat vs how many people just assume the Terrorist News Network has infiltrated America and something about sleeper cells.

 

[shortylickens]

None in America.

Go to the BBC if you want objective info about us.

Which is sad, but thats life.

 

[nanette1985]

BBC I like. Also the Wall Street Journal, because they had some accurate reporting on when I sold my software company some years ago. JMHO.

 

[soccerballtux]

Christian Science Monitor has very interesting articles, just ignore the religious onse

 

[Charles Kozierok]

The BBC isn't perfect either.

I find often the best source is no particular source. I use Google News and compare how things are being reported by various sources. If they're generally in agreement, it's probably real news. If they're not, it's probably political. And if it only shows up either right-wing or left-wing blogs, it's probably propaganda.

 

[crashtestdummy]

The News Hour is great. I also like the Economist, the NY Times and the Washington Post (their reporting is great, not so much their editorials). I don't bother with any of the 24 hour networks, as they do nothing but hype pointless crap. Likewise for the Huffington Post and Politico.

Not exactly a news program, but Charlie Rose is really good for in-depth interviews.

 

[Zeze]

Excuse my ignorance, but this isn't the first time I heard Al Jazeera is good.

What are they? They're based out of Qatar and right next to Saudi, UAE, and Iran. Just by their geographical association, they 'sound' fishy.

What makes them so good and 'unbiased'?

 

[TraumaRN]

Tonight opening monologue on The Daily Show was actually another example of Stewart going all out and absolutely skewering John McCain and Lindsey Graham over stalling on the Hagel and Brennen confirmations. Will post links when available...but needless to say he said a few things the usual reports would have never talked about and in the process made McCain especially look like a petty fool.

 

[ivwshane]

MSNBC isn't a news source it's a source for political commentary and a behind the scenes look at politics (except the ED show, he's a hanity equivalent).

If I want news I usually have to go to multiple online print sources with none of them being a primary source.


You would think that in this day and age that selling news based on facts and devoid of opinion would be a good thing but I have yet to see any major entity pick up the task.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Excuse my ignorance, but this isn't the first time I heard Al Jazeera is good.

What are they? They're based out of Qatar and right next to Saudi, UAE, and Iran. Just by their geographical association, they 'sound' fishy.

What makes them so good and 'unbiased'?

They're a news organization with an Arab nationalist slant (note that nationalist does not mean Muslim fundamentalist). The irony of that fact is that their leanings exist almost entirely outside the US political spectrum, and they tend to be relatively even-handed and diverse in their description of non-arab politics and news (they do lean left in their commentary, though). Furthermore, even though their reporting on the middle east has it's faults, they have far, far better access and investigative drive than any other news agency.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

A very good source for opinion/commentary is www.commondreams.org. Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC.

Are you kidding, The only place I see more intelectual dishonesty is when I watch fox news.

But I must admit; she's outside of 4 of the top-5 list the OP is upset about.

 

[JEDIYoda]

The BBC isn't perfect either.

I find often the best source is no particular source. I use Google News and compare how things are being reported by various sources. If they're generally in agreement, it's probably real news. If they're not, it's probably political. And if it only shows up either right-wing or left-wing blogs, it's probably propaganda.

The BDSM is very good.....oops I meant BBC is very good but when it comes to Israel the BBC is obviously anti - Israel....good luck on that...

 

[JEDIYoda]

They're a news organization with an Arab nationalist slant (note that nationalist does not mean Muslim fundamentalist). The irony of that fact is that their leanings exist almost entirely outside the US political spectrum, and they tend to be relatively even-handed and diverse in their description of non-arab politics and news (they do lean left in their commentary, though). Furthermore, even though their reporting on the middle east has it's faults, they have far, far better access and investigative drive than any other news agency.

They are not unbiased...thats is a real crock there....