Stay Informed: Best Ways To Keep up With the News

Staying up-to-date with current events is a valuable way to participate in society. The knowledge you glean from reading news stories and watching videos can guide your beliefs and influence who you vote for. Following the news can also inspire you to speak out against injustice. 

However, it is important to choose your news outlets carefully. Embracing news literacy best practices can help you identify reputable and unbiased sources. You can get your news from high-quality journalists who want you to be informed. 

You don’t have to read every news story out there or dedicate several hours of your day to staying informed. Here are a few tips to keep up with the news and ensure the information you receive is accurate. 

The first step is to choose a few high-quality sources that you can turn to regularly. The media bias chart is a good place to identify factual outlets without political leanings. For example, USA Facts is one of the most accurate reporting outlets and is considered unbiased, as is Scripps News. 

If you find a news source that interests you, check to see if it is on this chart so you are aware of any political leanings or chances of inaccuracy. That way, you don’t waste your time on a poor source.

Independent reporters focus on the facts and tell accurate stories without being influenced by news publications, governments, private organizations, or the subjects they are profiling. Following independent reporters on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram can help you find objective pieces with quality reporting. 

Journalists who work for specific publications are often limited in what they can cover. For example, ESPN journalists focus their efforts on sports reporting while Financial Times reporters write about the economy. Not only can following independent reporters help you find unbiased journalism, but it can also expose you to a variety of topics because these freelancers work with multiple publications.

Keeping up with the news doesn’t have to be boring. Look for new sources and outlets that interest you and present information in an engaging manner. If you don’t have a lot of time to read in-depth news articles, turn to public radio or TV programs so you can listen to updates or watch video content. When you find media you like, you are more likely to turn to it.

A significant part of news literacy involves being exposed to multiple viewpoints and ideas to see how they differ from your own. You can turn to international media outlets to see what other countries think about current events and how they are reported. This can give you a global perspective while also exposing you to news that might not be covered in the United States. 

Some of the top international news sites you can follow include the BBC, India Times, and Al Jazeera. Remember that international publications can also be biased, so try to find objective and reliable news sources. 

A news aggregator pulls the top stories from various websites and presents them in one place. This is a useful tool for staying up to date with the news because you only need to use a single app. You can save time by scrolling through your aggregator instead of visiting every single news site that you consider reliable. These aggregators also allow you to choose the exact sites that you receive news media from. 

There are multiple news aggregator apps that you can test and choose the best one based on your personal preferences. Google News and Apple News are two of the most common apps people use across the country.

One of the main benefits of following multiple news outlets is that you can see how different channels report stories. For example, the first outlet you turn to might praise the actions of the president after meeting with a foreign leader while the second outlet criticizes the president because of the same meeting.

If you only follow news sources that you agree with, you risk living in an echo chamber where your views are never challenged. By comparing coverage, you can learn about your values while confirming which news sources are reliable.

Google Alerts tracks mentions of particular keywords or topics and sends emails to the people who subscribe to those ideas. This is a useful way to follow niche topics that interest you but aren’t always in the media. For example, you might set a Google Alert for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris to keep up with the athletes and any policy changes by the Olympic Committee. 

Google Alerts allows you to customize how often you receive updates on the topics of your choosing. You can request daily emails, weekly roundups, or news alerts when they happen. This allows you to curate your news so you aren’t overwhelmed with stories.

If you aren’t sure whether a news story is true or reliable, turn to your fact-checking resources to confirm its accuracy. There are multiple tools you can bookmark and reference whenever you come across questionable information. For example, Snopes is good for busting fake news stories or social media misinformation. PolitiFact reviews stories for accuracy and highlights any errors in various publications. 

Fact-checkers have detailed processes for proving that a story is fake, like checking images to make sure they are accurate and following up with interview subjects. They do this job so you don’t have to. 

Fact-checking only takes a few minutes and gives you peace of mind knowing that the information you consume is accurate. If one of your favorite news sites frequently fails the fact-checker test, it might be time to find a more reliable media outlet. 

You can keep up with the news in the pockets of your time. You can check a Google Alert on your lunch break or scroll through a news aggregator after dinner. By surrounding yourself with reliable news resources, you can ensure the information is accurate and form an objective viewpoint of the world.