11 Tips For Navigating The Press In 2024
The most crucial aspect of the news is to inspire you. News shouldn’t polarize you and your family/friends. The news must be beneficial for you in making smarter & quick decisions, creating a brighter life ahead and providing a deeper understanding of our current world. News stories should help to open up your heart and mind.
However, from the childhood era, the time you are currently living in has changed significantly. Simultaneously, the news industry changes with the evolution and alteration of technology. What we are left today is the media houses that needs a bit of effort to get through, and find news sources that are worth your mind and time.
TheDoe.com is an anonymous 21st-century news source with old school values. It puts verification of references and truth at its core and utilizes the anonymity to get the real story out there and test biases. It knows the issues the press faces and the problems it’s made for itself and has helped us with this piece below.
The Following Are Important Things That You Should Know
Read in-depth news
Use multiple resources to get in-depth news visualization. In today’s intense political environment, people commonly depend on news sources that reflect their own political perceptions. However, with these news outlets, you require to challenging your own views. So, here the wise options: If you are watching CNN, then watch Fox News Channel as well. With both the news information in mind, you can compare them easily. Today, the Internet has provided us with numerous news resources that are available with distinct ideologies, which you shouldn’t miss to add. In short, you should get news from every possible source without failing to consider entire points within.
This isn’t the end of getting news. Instead, you should also consider foreign news outlets as equally as in-house media sources. Within the country, NPR, Voice of America, PBS are available, and outside France 24, Al Jazeera, BBC are available, which are small participants in the wide list. The entire credit goes to the Internet and cable that has introduced tones of new channels that weren’t available until now.
Use Various News Sources
Similar to a healthy diet, your mind also requires a healthy media that boost your perception and fill your mind with new ideas, stories, opinion, and more. Keep in mind; you don’t switch your news source. E.g., if you are more dependent on Facebook Feeds for news updates, stick to it. Yet, other news sources can be added to increase your knowledge about the issue/topic.
Do Research
In the United States, everyone with broadband has a news channel, which is great. However, the same opportunity is equally the drawback of the US, too.
Everyone knew their taste, so prior to relying on any news outlet, research well about the company resources and the outlets on which they rely on the news. Every website has an ‘About Us’ page linked in their footer, which is a transparent source to read about the news outlet and analyze with what you expect.
Giving Headlines More Priority than Sources
With the changing technology, people prefer clicking on the headlines, regardless of the news source. You never look for the legit source ahead of watching any news article, video, or other rich media, which is wrong. Nowadays, you will find multiple fake news outlets that target legit and promising media houses. Therefore, it essential to thoroughly check your sources before reading.
News Before Opinion
Discussing the news and reporting the news are two completely different things. First and foremost, focus on news reports, before you start to turn to analysis pieces, letters, op-eds, commentary, or discussions.
But why should you read the source?
The news will provide you with facts, whereas the source will help you decide your decision for what’s correct or wrong. That is where polarization really comes into play. In general, the Fox media house is considered to be biased, even termed as “faux news.” The reason behind it is, most of its news is made up of talk shows instead of field reporting. (E.g., in an entire day weekend schedule, there were 16 hours worth of talk-shows.) Today, the cable channels are no more the complete source of news. E.g., CNN shows documentaries alongside food shows today.
Invest Equal Time in National & Local News
It’s a common misconception today that a single media outlet can give you entire news that you want. Gone are the days when you can stay updated by reading a newspaper wholly. Today’s news format has wholly diminished the way of reporting as well as a newsroom, which isn’t a surprise at all. Their target has migrated from delivering quality news to promoting their products & services. That’s the reason news outlets today target a soft spot and providing the same with high energy. E.g., to focus on national-level reporting, the New York Times has cut down its local news reporting.
What does all of this mean for you? Your habits need to change to accommodate the constantly evolving product offerings from the news outlets. For news that impacts your local area, read your community newspapers to get your news. (People tend to regard local online news sites or local newspaper as being “insignificant” when local news covers those issues that are the closest ones for you. How large a news outlet does not determine its impact.)
Keep in mind, democracy starts in your very own backyard, and that is what is covered by local news. National news covers the entire country. To understand what is happening, you need to have both.
Every Major Story Is Local Somewhere
The local news has reporters on the ground, and they are prepared to access the appropriate sources. So whenever a major story breaks that you might be interested in, search to locate a local news outlet within the area.
For example, when the tragedy happened in Sandy Hook, the local news sources in the Newton area were publishing and airing new updates that run ahead of national news outlets up to two hours ahead.
News Can Be Tricky
The term “news” is used quite generically by people, similar to people saying, “I need to have a Kleenex” when what they mean is they need a “tissue,” or they say “Make a Xerox” rather than saying they need a “copy.” We will define news for our purposes as the reporting of factual information — nothing less and nothing more.
Opinion vs. Fact
Having the ability to discern the difference between opinion and fact is the very foundation that is needed to navigate the current complex media landscape successfully. However, studies inform us that in our culture, this is a significant weakness. Some people say up to one out of every two college graduates are unable to distinguish between opinion and fact; others say up to 70 percent of Americans struggle with it. Before reacting to the news, you should ask yourself whether it is opinion or fact. Pay close attention to labels as well.
News is divided into sections by the newsmedia and provides a programming schedule or table of contents. Pay close attention to those labels as they can help guide you towards the news products you are interested in.
A significant problem with today’s news media is that there is no standard labeling method available the way that movies do. Technology has transformed media into multimedia offerings for consumers to use. However, inside news outlets, people at newspapers still view themselves as being a newspaper. The same is true with magazines, cable, TV, and radio. The industry has not joined forces to create a genuine user experience that is streamlined and simple.
Until this occurs, you will need to do the work for yourself.
Prefer Reading More Than Watching
Always remember, written information is of more worth than the rich media. So, whatsoever source you prefer (online or offline), prefer reding more than relying on watching videos, news channels, or other visual content. Once you have the necessary knowledge through the written piece, move to the TV/radio for more updates.
These days, television news stories tend to be around two minutes in length. A radio report runs for about 35 seconds. Those formats are not able to tell you all the essential things you need to know. That is why reading is so crucial.
Why are these formats so short? Because that is how long people are willing to pay attention these days.
No Single Story Given Complete Information
An article on a specific topic can’t give you detailed knowledge. It can be considered as a small short glimpse of the whole storyline, and to get complete information, you require a dependency on multiple other news outlets.
