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Everyone these days has an opinion to share, you can’t go anywhere without meeting a blogger or a wannabe journalist. However, just because someone has an Instagram account and a MacBook, that doesn’t necessarily make them a trustworthy source of news. When you read an article, it’s difficult to determine how qualified that person is, how current or accurate their facts are or whether they’re inserting their own bias (to be clear, I am not at all qualified myself). So, to help you in your quest for the latest and greatest news, here is a list of sources you might want to check out.
1. ABC Fact Check
http://www.abc.net.au/news/factcheck/
ABC is a fairly reputable source to begin with, so you can usually expect to get fairly up to date and correct information from them. Fact Check analyses accuracy and claims made by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions. It doesn’t, however, analyse anything said by journalists from the ABC or otherwise. Fact Check aims to provide a fair and balanced view without exaggerated rhetoric, something which is unfortunately hard to find in online journalism. Viewers are able to comment and contribute to posts which are reviewed by an advisory panel made up of experts on climate change, law, the economy and politics. It’s an easily accessible way of finding out what’s true and what’s not within the media and is definitely recommended.
2. Delayed Gratification
http://www.slow-journalism.com/
Delayed Gratification is a print magazine that publishes issues every three months. They value correctness, context analysis and expert opinion. Basically, they believe that the modern method of creating and receiving news is flawed, in that everyone is too focused on being the first to pump out the latest story, rather than ensuring it is correct and conclusive. Their objective is to tell the full story through intelligent and curated story telling. It’s clear that a lot of time and thought is put into this publication so that readers are given the news they deserve, further promoting slow journalism and reducing the rise of twitter news.
3. Vice
http://www.vice.com/en_au
I’ve been reading Vice for a couple of years now and to be honest I still don’t really know what they do. Even the about page on the website provides no justification for their extremely wide range of topics. They consist of online posts, magazines, photographs and a television show. Recent articles on their website include, ‘Inside the Gaudy World of Romania’s Wealthiest Witches’ and ‘What White Supremacists are Saying Online about South Carolina Church Shooting’ (both great articles). Most of their items are written by contributors from all over the world, with varying levels of credibility. But whatever they’re doing, I like it. They cover so many bizarre yet incredibly interesting topics and manage to give me the news I didn’t even realise I wanted.
4. Al Jazeera
http://www.aljazeera.com/
Al Jazeera is a global news corporation with heaps of platforms including television broadcasts, opinion pieces and investigative journalism. Their news reaches over 140 countries worldwide, with their objective being to give ‘voices to the voiceless’. They focus on bringing issues to light that are often underreported. Their staff and contributors are internationally diverse and well qualified to be bringing you reputable and up to date news. It’s worth following their news and stories, as they also run support programs for journalists that have been kidnapped in conflict areas.
Basically, don’t believe everything you read. It’s important to consider all sides of a story to ensure that the author is properly qualified to be saying what they’re saying. There are a million news sites out there, it’s important to get the right facts.
