What sources do you use to maintain a balanced view of current local/global issues?
I don't. I've found that the really big stuff tends to filter to the top no matter what, so between Hubski, Hacker News, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, etc I usually hear about the really big stories. If I don't hear about it in spite of my best efforts to not care, it can't possibly be that important.
I can't believe this is the top comment. "Can't possibly be important" if it wasn't on social media. That's sad to hear. Journalism isn't in great shape. But I hope that there are stories beyond the TPP and Bernie Sanders running for president (all I ever see on social media).
We must use social media differently. My social media is overwhelmingly dominated by Pluto this week. Haven't heard a thing about TPP in ages or Sanders at all. I'd also point out that it's a one way relationship. "If it's important, I'll see it without seeking it out" does not imply "if I see it without seeking it out, it's important".
BBC news. Pretty much the best news source (for major stuff anyway), with Al Jazeera a close second. BBC app on the phone gives you notifications which is great to stay right on top of what's going on.
Why do you choose these ones? I'm also trying to find a system I can use to stay informed without constructing an information bubble for myself accidentally. I don't know where to begin on finding out which sources are reliable.
Circa until it recently went offline. Longreads.com http://www.aldaily.com/ France24.com Rt.com/news Wikileaks Punchng.com Aljazeera The New Yorker
I don't. Aside from big issues I see on Hubski, I stay the fuck away from the news - because I'm sick and tired of seeing syrians being gladly bombed again, or how Africans are getting butchered by their government, or how China is still ass-backwards, or how Europe still has no idea how to deal with everything.
I'm subscribed to The Economist, but when I don't want to read articles I just open the Espresso app which has the top 5 stories of the day in a light paragraph followed by important indicators such as currency exchanges, oil prices, etc. Take about 5 minutes and I'm good to go.
I have the BBC News app installed, for the major/basic stories. I also follow a lot of journalists, pundits, and bloggers from all over the place on Twitter. It gives me a good perspective of what's going on in the world. I realized a long time ago that looking for entirely neutral news only leads to disappointment (although the BBC does a pretty good job) - it's much better to follow a well-balanced group of biased people from across the spectrum.
Admittedly, I use the Buzzfeed News app on my iPhone. I like it, honestly. It sends me news either aggregated from other sources or written by their in-house folks.
I find the more in tune I am with news (as in news channels, newspapers, etc), the more depressed I get. Reddit used to be my main source of news, was a very nice aggregator. Then Reddit started censoring, limiting the news, turned it myopic. Now... honestly, I think imgur is my current source of news. Yes, imgur.
The PBS Newshour puts every episode on their youtube channel within minutes after it airs on television on the east coast. They also break up their episodes into segments if you aren't interested in watching the whole thing. I love the future. I also like Google News since I feel like an aggregator of different sources is probably better than going to just one newspaper/website. Aside from that: The Daily Show, NYT, NPR, local news websites, and then whatever floats to the top of Facebook or Reddit.
I use bit·of·news. They send you an email every day with the top stories. It's really helpful!
I think Aljazeera tends to phrase things like "We don't know what happened, but here's the facts we can tell you". NYT feels a lot more like "This is our best guess". I think they are facing a lot of pressure to compete with lower quality sources that report without fact checking. I'm also a bit jaded about American corporations right now, and it's refreshing to get a view from an outside company.
news.google.com generally tells me what's going on in the world.