Blog Post #1: Top 5 News Sources

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 5 Top News Sources

I feel that this current generation has a much wider variety of choices to pick from when it comes to our consumption of news, especially with social media taking over most aspects of our lives. We have so many options to pick from when we want to stay updated and learn about political, economic, and social issues that are going on in our country today. It is difficult to know the real facts, and pinpoint what is worthwhile to consume and what not to consume. My top 5 news sources at the moment are Tik Tok, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Mail, and finally, my dad.


Tik Tok

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/technology/tiktok-text-posts.html 

People can now make content of their own and share their ideas more quickly and effectively because of social media. This can be beneficial because it makes information more accessible to more people, but it also makes it easy for false information to spread. This blurring of the lines between professional journalism and user-generated material can hurt the credibility of news sources. Although there are negative benefits to getting news from social media, specifically Tik Tok, I can say that my algorithm is very fine tuned to my views and opinions. I have access to many different voices that share details about recent events that may not have been shared with the general public on a mainstream news source, such as FOX or CNN. Creators on Tik Tok often do deep digging on current events and find pictures and pieces of information that may have not been included about an event that gives me a different and broader view on an issue. I also have noticed that because of the more personal in-depth dives into events, I am able to find the answers to more specific questions that other people may have. I can click through videos getting the exact answers I need on an event, whereas if I do a Google search asking a specific question, I often do not find the answer I am looking for. Tik Tok makes it easier to find answers that the general internet usually does not provide because of the lack of censorship. 


Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/video 

Fox News has been around since 1996 (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fox-News-Channel), and millions of Americans tune in every day to get their news from them, which shows that people trust what it says. Fox News is known as one of the nation's most important news sources. They are known for their conservative commentary, but they also have news shows where reporters talk about a wide range of topics. Fox News often has experts and contributors from different areas, such as politics, economics, and social issues, on the show to give different points of view. I choose to get some of my news from Fox News when I want to learn about a current event because of the more conservative standpoint that they take. Everyone is guilty of being more open to a source if it leans into their political/social standing. It is in human nature, and I feel that they often show a different side to mainstream current events that is not necessarily “fake news”. Of course, all of the nation's main news sources are owned and run by the same people that receive the same information to distribute to the public. I am very aware of this, however, I appreciate and enjoy listening and reading Fox News more than other news sources, such as CNN, especially when it comes to politics and heavy topics such as race and gender issues. 



The Wall Street Journal

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/10/business/media/wall-street-journal-murdoch.html 

The Wall Street Journal has been around since 1889, (https://ballotpedia.org/The_Wall_Street_Journal), which adds to their image as a well-known and reliable news source. The WSJ is known for having a news section and an opinion section that are separate from each other. This helps make sure that news stories are told in a fair and accurate way. The WSJ focuses a lot on business and financial news, but they also write about politics, science, health, and other things. The WSJ not only reports about current news and issues, they also go give about the sources, methods, and data that were used in their reports. This makes the information more clear and lets me and others, the readers, judge how reliable it is. The WSJ puts a lot of weight on making sure information is correct before it is published. This helps stop the spread of false or misleading information. The reason I choose to also get some of my news and information from The Wall Street Journal is because I feel that they are generally unbiased compared to other mainstream news companies. They give the sources, talk about the event, and move on. I feel that unbiased-ness is necessary for news sources. Of course, there are some right or left leaning opinions reports in WSJ, but I feel that is much more of a middle ground than CNN or even Fox News.


The Daily Mail

https://www.facebook.com/DailyMail/ 

I like to get some of my news from The Daily Mail. I use The Daily Mail because they are a popular news source that is read by a wide range of people for a number of reasons. First of all, it covers a wide range of topics, from world news and politics to lifestyle and culture, so that readers can learn about a lot of different things. They communicate through social media platforms as well, which it makes extremely accessible for young people like myself. I personally access The Daily Mail through Snapchat. Their stories include lively images and interesting stories, making them visually appealing and easy for a wide audience to understand. They have great photos and headlines that hook the viewers that may be scrolling through their Snapchat stories. There have been times that I haven;t even been trying to look to read the news, and I see an interesting headline on Snapchat from The Daily Mail and I will read about a scandal or large event. Due to the Daily Mail's dedication to investigative journalism, important stories and scandals have come to light, which has helped people understand important issues. I appreciate the effort that the Daily Mail makes to reach younger audiences on social media. They have made accessing current events and news even easier because of their integration into well-known social media platforms. (https://www.gale.com/intl/essays/adrian-bingham-daily-mail-public-life) 


My Dad

I chose my dad as my last news source for many different reasons. Of course, my dad does not automatically know about current events and world issues without reading himself. My dad reads many history books and accurate current event news that keep him sharp, however, my dad is also the smartest person I have ever met. He informs me about international issues and is quite cynical about the state of our world and the way our government is being run. I appreciate the way he explains the world to me. I am not naive about the bad things that happen outside and within our government because of my father. He is very forward with me about the state of the world, and before I search on the internet, I ask my dad about it first. He is the most intelligent person I know. He has so many things that he is well educated on. He was an English teacher, a personal trainer, a firearm instructor, a musician, and a carpenter. Most importantly, he was a stay at home dad for myself and my siblings. I respect his knowledge about so many different things in the world, and he is my most trusted source. 

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