News sources

[Belember]

Hello everyone,

This topic has roots in the Trump was shot! thread.

I have been getting my news from mainstream media via the Internet apps on my phone: BBC, CNN, APnews and FoxNews. Oh, and technology news site Ars Technica.

Where do people usually get their news from? I was curious about non-biased independent new sources that people use. Would you please share what you use?

And... I was able to find an article on the Internet that spoke to me about men in skirts that I found interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... he-garment

Thank you!

[FranTastic444]

I think that every written or broadcast article (news or otherwise ) has some level of bias or an angle of some sort (sometimes unintentional). BBC and NPR strive to follow best practice journalism but are thought of as being slightly left-leaning. I would normally look to a newspaper of record for print content. I read the Times of London, whose news reporting tends to be neutral(ish) but with op-eds and commentary that is often right of center but with the occasional counter balance view thrown in for good measures.

CNN, Fox, MSNBC, OAN, Newsmax, GB News and the like are all partisan and will skew to a particular party or ideology.

[Mouse]

Living in the UK, I tend to get my normal news from the Times Radio or BBC Radio 4. If I want particular information, I have a number of YouTube channels which I trust for particular subjects. From these channels I will get news in depth on what I am interested in. So when the BBC reports about the latest Space X rocket blowing up, I have a whole host of expert channels analysing what was learnt and what worked and what didn't. In a similar way I have channels on aviation, shipping, warfare, etc. It takes time to work out who the knowledgeable channels are, but it is fascinating to get the inside track on stories where the normal news don't bother with the detail, or in some stories even understand the issues.

[Bertino56]

New York Times. Print edition.
There's a week's worth of reading in every daily issue.

[Jim]

AP News is seen to be unbiased by many.

[denimini]

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) National Radio and TV.

[Seb]

I mostly get news on the radio, and a blog that I've been following for many years where the author does a very good job at citing sources, mainly for Swedish politics and the way in Ukraine.

I used to trust SVT, the Swedish state owned television, but they have been cabling out unaltered propaganda directly from moscow and still do so I no longer have any faith in them at all. A few of their proper, on site, journalists exempted.

Mostly I live unaware and get "rumors" from colleagues or my wife, there is just so much going on that I don't need our want to know about.

[Belember]

Thank you for all the feedback so far! It's nice to learn about new sources of credible information. Though I live in the U.S., are you aware if any of the UK or Australian radio stations transmit on shortwave frequencies so I can pick them up and listen to? When I think about it, asking about webpages or Internet radio makes more sense.

[Mouse]

Thank you for all the feedback so far! It's nice to learn about new sources of credible information. Though I live in the U.S., are you aware if any of the UK or Australian radio stations transmit on shortwave frequencies so I can pick them up and listen to? When I think about it, asking about webpages or Internet radio makes more sense.

The BBC has it's world service https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl9p
Times radio link page is https://linktr.ee/ListentoTimesRadio
Not sure about licensing but give them a try where ever you are.

[crfriend]

There's an increasing amout of mis- and outright dis- information out there at the moment, and that can make sorting it out rather perilous, especially given the natural tendency for humans to favour whatever positions appeal to them. It's worth noting that something that offends you viscerally may well be real.

Back when I was serious about it, I found myself using various short-wave radio national services from worldwide taking it all in, and then averaging things out in an attempt to really discern what was going on. The actual facts are usually embedded deep within even outright propaganda -- one just needs to learn to detect them. I was using, in no particular order, the ABC (Australian World Service), the BBC World Service, the CBC (Canada), German short-wave radio broadcast in English, Radio Moscow, and for grins, Radio Havana (Cuba). Taking the mean on things from that range of sources gave me some pretty good insights into what was going on around me -- to the point where I could handily challenge my elders who were primarily reading the newspapers (which I did as well). This went on from the very late 1960s to the mid 1980s which is where I got my interpretation style from. Never trust a single source! Always find multiples.

Much to my father's horror, I managed to intercept some broadcasts of Radio Free Europe -- which was regarded as criminal for American citizens to listen in on -- and much to his surprise, I mentioned that it was like hearing the Boston Herald (then a Hearst publication and mostly propaganda) read aloud. It's the first time I'm seen the same propaganda spewed both internally and externally. Usually they're quite different. We got the Boston Herald at the time as well as the Boston Globe, and the little Attleborough paper, so I was already familiar with "journalistic slant".

Is short-wave radio making a comeback? I may have to recommission my receiver!

[FranTastic444]

and the little Attleborough paper

Oh, how I've struggled with Attleboro / Attleborough, Foxboro / Foxborough and the like. For many years I tried to stick to the UK pronunciation, but 9 times out of 10, if you end such a place name with "borough" rather than "bro" you get a quizzical look of befuddlement from the person you are talking to

The BBC Sounds app is the best way to get access to all of the BBC radio output over the Internet - I use it in the US. I dislike the need to create an account to get access to the content, but I guess it is a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. One thing to keep in mind is that if you want to tune into Radio 5 to listen to sports commentary, it is almost always blocked outside of the UK due to licensing restrictions.

[Myopic Bookworm]

I usually rely mainly on the BBC, but if I want a different angle, I hunt out the online news from Reuters TV.

When I was in the US for a spell, I still relied on the BBC, while occasionally listening to local radio stations WAMU and WBJC. I did pick up some angles on American politics by watching The Colbert Report, which was the nearest thing I found to British political satire.

[6ft3Aussie]

Thank you for all the feedback so far! It's nice to learn about new sources of credible information. Though I live in the U.S., are you aware if any of the UK or Australian radio stations transmit on shortwave frequencies so I can pick them up and listen to? When I think about it, asking about webpages or Internet radio makes more sense.

Radio Australia turned off their shortwave service in about 2018, they were of the belief that nobody listened to shortwave anymore that couldn't get access to the service via the internet, local FM radio or satellite, and unfortunately, the ABC also turned off their domestic shortwave service too at the same time, citing the cost to operate what was described as an "obsolete" technology.
Trouble is, many areas of the Pacific no no longer have an news or information services available, and given Australia's vast landmass with communities in very remote locations, in many cases without mobile phone service, there are now many small towns and remote communities that no longer have reliable radio services.

Radio New Zealand continues to operate their Pacific shortwave service (search for Radio New Zealand Pacific - How to listen for schedules and frequencies) to serve the Pacific Island countries. Their shortwave service provides excellent reception here on Australia's eastern seaboard and can be received in the USA.
There are a number of low powered shortwave stations around Australia in the 120m, 90m and 60m bands, some of which are really not much more than experimental or niche stations.

[MrSoapsud]

Writing from the UK, the BBC try very hard to be impartial as that is expected of *broadcasters* in the UK. However, some (esp GBNews) seem to ignore that requirement. In my experience, people on the right of politics thing the BBC is left-leaning and vice-versa. It is fact, however, that a number of the more political journalists have associations with the Conservative party (including standing as candidates for election in some cases).
Newspapers here have no requirement for impartiality and The Times, Telegraph, Mail and Express are all right of centre (more so as you move along that list). The Guardian (former broadsheet) and Mirror (Tabloid) are more left of centre.

[Belember]

Thank you everyone for your replies. The additional sources are helpful and give me other places to look for news than my "default" choices.