Opinions: What's the most best place to get your news?

[Lagmonster]

Up till now, I basically get my news in the easiest ways: local (CBC) radio and television, with forays to CNN online when I want something more "international". Well, CNN's new site layout sucks an entire conga line of donkeys, and so for the first time in a while I find I need a new steady news site.

And I'm trying to be picky, because I want facts, not opinions. I want the weakest political or social bias possible. I want ballsy journalism. I absolutely don't want to know "how twitter is reacting" to things. I don't want to hear commentators treating polls like news. It doesn't have to be fully global in coverage, but I'd like to find a source that realizes there are other countries in the Western hemisphere besides America. I don't need specialist sites - I read niche journals for information on my niche interests. And social media is right out because I can never know if I'm in an echo chamber or not thanks to the way they present information.

So, while I doubt any news source is perfect, what would people say is the best all-round place to get current and breaking international news?

[Borgholio]

So, while I doubt any news source is perfect, what would people say is the best all-round place to get current and breaking international news?

I use the USA Today and CNN smartphone apps. Layout isn't as shitty as on their actual websites and I get breaking news alerts to my phone.

[K. A. Pital]

Bloomberg. Embrace the evil within you.

[Borgholio]

Bloomberg. Embrace the evil within you.

Evil? Wouldn't that be Faux News then?

[Patroklos]

NPR, because its on the radio and the only news with good reception. I gave up on TV news long ago. I figured if I am going to be sitting in my car anyway and probably listening to something why not the news? The internet is great but I can fall into the link blackhole and before you know it its 11pm and my evening is shot (I've got boards like this for that!). The car is already lost time.

I also don't do any news watching/listening before bed. I get worked up, then can't sleep or have crappy dreams.

[Irbis]

And I'm trying to be picky, because I want facts, not opinions.

Nowhere. There isn't a single news website without bias today. And even when they show very weak bias in 80% of cases, they usually show mid to strong one in 20% of cases and often you can't tell if you don't have look from another perspective (you know to be at least part true, not outright fabricating that other look like Faux News or everything Murdoch). Which makes it even worse as you can be led astray by otherwise reputable agency.

I want the weakest political or social bias possible. I want ballsy journalism.

About last major international English speaking news that still sometimes show that is Guardian, though their editorials and commentators need to be treated with big grain of salt.

[Starglider]

The Economist (particularly the short world news summary section). I love how they make everyone who isn't a neoliberal gobal capitalist seem wrong by default, while maintaining an air of impartiality and reasonableness. Something to aspire to.

[Lagmonster]

Does anyone know how Al Jazeera stacks up? I heard informally that they compared favourably in international news, but know diddly about them. I'd expect them to be rather conservative.

I use the USA Today and CNN smartphone apps. Layout isn't as shitty as on their actual websites and I get breaking news alerts to my phone.

Okay, but I would assume their focus is still highly American-centric, although I assume CNN is better than most at getting international news right.

Bloomberg. Embrace the evil within you.

You know, I don't actually know anything about them other than that they are a financial news source. I'm guessing they are "news for the 1%".

NPR, because its on the radio and the only news with good reception. I gave up on TV news long ago.

Okay, but do they measure up well as a journalism source for international news? Do they have a known or distinguished bias which makes it less likely to get unfiltered information?

The Economist (particularly the short world news summary section). I love how they make everyone who isn't a neoliberal gobal capitalist seem wrong by default, while maintaining an air of impartiality and reasonableness. Something to aspire to.

I never looked into them before. The name led me to think it was a niche interest publication.

About last major international English speaking news that still sometimes show that is Guardian, though their editorials and commentators need to be treated with big grain of salt.

I know them by reputation. They published a lot of the big leak materials, as I recall? I'll go over their headline sections and see how sensationalist their core material is.

[Borgholio]

Okay, but I would assume their focus is still highly American-centric, although I assume CNN is better than most at getting international news right.

Actually I've found that USA Today is really good as far as international news is concerned.

[Elheru Aran]

Economist is-- as the name would indicate-- largely focused on the commercial sector (what businesses are doing well, ventures that are succeeding or failing, and so forth) but it does have a vested interest in the rest of the world news business, largely as that affects finances in a broad sense. They're pretty decent, honestly, apart from a powerful distaste for anything non-capitalistic.

NPR is very middle-of-the-road and impartial, with a slight lean towards conservatism. That said, it's probably about as liberal as... say... CNN.

Al Jazeera gets good reviews in world news. Faux News basically considers them the very devil, and one could honestly question their impartiality to some degree in matters pertaining to Islam, but other than that.

Personally I get most of my news from SDN, Google News, Raw Story and the Daily Banter (which is more of a commentary site than news, but you know).

[Edi]

If you want news about Finland and a summary of what's going on in the world that does not have an emphasis on the US, Helsinki Times is good. It's the English language edition of Finland's main newspaper and they don't really pull punches with their journalism.

EDIT: The world news section is not updated nearly as often as the domestic stuff, though.

The English editions of certain German newspapers are also good stuff.

[K. A. Pital]

Bloomberg. Embrace the evil within you.

Evil? Wouldn't that be Faux News then?

A court jester cannot be evil; his task is mockery, absurdity.

You know, I don't actually know anything about them other than that they are a financial news source. I'm guessing they are "news for the 1%".

Pretty much.

What is also good about it is that it has zero 'relaxing news' - as it does not need to cater to the poor working masses, it does not have any weird segments where after violence, hatred and war slaughter and somewhere between the stock index and currency exchange rates you see kittens or puppies all of a sudden, or some Justin Bieber.

However, they do talk politics (and they do it with less patriotic fervor towards the US of A than 90% of other news outlets). And their politics segments are very illuminating, a lot more than the mumbo-jumbo you get from CNN or BBC.

[Thanas]

Check out Spiegel for in depth articles and The Guardian for breaking news. BBC.com is also worth it.

[Broomstick]

I use the USA Today and CNN smartphone apps. Layout isn't as shitty as on their actual websites and I get breaking news alerts to my phone.

Yeah, well, not all of us have smartphones and the new "improved" CNN website blows festering chunks. Holy fuck, what dumbass thought that was an "improvement"?

[Guardsman Bass]

If you just need a general heads-up on world news, the BBC World News site is pretty good for that.

[Borgholio]

Yeah, well, not all of us have smartphones and the new "improved" CNN website blows festering chunks. Holy fuck, what dumbass thought that was an "improvement"?

The USA Today website isn't much better. It has popup adds all over and the main article is in it's own giant Flash popup over the main site. Seriously, why can't we have just a website with text and pictures / video on the sidebar that we can view if we want? And whoever invented videos that autoplay when you scroll over them while reading the main article can go die in a fire.

[General Zod]

I use the USA Today and CNN smartphone apps. Layout isn't as shitty as on their actual websites and I get breaking news alerts to my phone.

Yeah, well, not all of us have smartphones and the new "improved" CNN website blows festering chunks. Holy fuck, what dumbass thought that was an "improvement"?

I used to use msnbc until they turned their page into a mess of flash vomit.

As far as sources go, I'm partial to phys.org for anything science related. Sometimes I'll go to Forbes, AlterNet or NYmag.

[Soontir C'boath]

I generally read Al Jazeera (aforementioned Islamic bias aside) or NPR. Though I was annoyed with the latter with their coverage of Ismaaiyl Brinsley wherein they kept mentioning the two cops he killed, but not the ex-GF he shot which I think would offer a very different angle to the story.

[jwl]

You know to be at least part true, not outright fabricating that other look like Faux News or everything Murdoch.

Murdoch doesn't automatically =biased. The Times is one of the most impartial news sources out there.

Personally I go for a mix, but usually I originally get news from the TV and newspapers and use online if I want to find out more. Usually I first hear of it on the BBC news channel, and buy most often the i paper; but I also buy the times, telegraph and independent; and watch channel 4 news and al jazeera. When it comes to science news, I'm subscribed to the new scientist, and I usually am skeptical about science news stories until I see whether and how it is presented in there.

[Channel72]

Bloomberg. Embrace the evil within you.

Seriously Stas? That's -1 commie cred for you.

But yeah, Bloomberg news is pretty good. You'd think they'd be similar to the Wall Street Journal in their political bias - i.e. that they'd slant heavily right to cater towards the interests of hedge fund managers - except they don't (most of the opinion pieces are supportive of the Obama administration, etc). That's probably because Bloomberg News is basically a side project. It accounts for like less than 1% of the revenue of Bloomberg LP (the parent company), which makes most of their money from Terminal subscriptions (a financial data feed that banks, investment firms, hedge funds, etc. use to monitor markets). And as Stas said, the news organization itself delivers pretty much straight news stories, with less bullshit filler like celebrity gossip. But obviously a lot of the reporting is heavily business/finance oriented - so all the gossip is about CEOs instead. So it may only be interesting if you regularly worship at the altar of capitalism, or care what Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson had for breakfast this morning.

[TimothyC]

NPR is very middle-of-the-road and impartial, with a slight lean towards conservatism. That said, it's probably about as liberal as... say... CNN.

Oh god, you're serious aren't you?

They try (and fail) to maintain a veneer of impartiality on their news reporting, but almost all of their commentary (even in the news programs) leans significantly left of center.

I do try and read AFP's English language stuff for a different bias.

[Jub]

NPR is very middle-of-the-road and impartial, with a slight lean towards conservatism. That said, it's probably about as liberal as... say... CNN.

Oh god, you're serious aren't you?

They try (and fail) to maintain a veneer of impartiality on their news reporting, but almost all of their commentary (even in the news programs) leans significantly left of center.

I do try and read AFP's English language stuff for a different bias.

Left of center for the world at large, especially Europe, or left of center for the US? There's a huge distinction.

[Patroklos]

NPR, because its on the radio and the only news with good reception. I gave up on TV news long ago.

It leans a little left but generally in the opinion side of things so you know that up front in a segment or interview. What I really appreciate is that they don't bother with all that "BREAKING NEWS!!! *INSERT ATTENTION GRABBING MUSIC HERE*" bullshit. Just tell me what is happening without all the banners, scrolling marques, blaring audio cues, and hastily and shiftily produced info graphics that tell me exactly nothing. That's why I gave up on TV, it became exhausting to just figure out what the hell they were talking about before you could even try and dig in under the spin.

[TimothyC]

Left of center for the world at large, especially Europe, or left of center for the US? There's a huge distinction.

Left of center for the US and parts of Canada.

[Jub]

Left of center for the world at large, especially Europe, or left of center for the US? There's a huge distinction.

Left of center for the US and parts of Canada.

Then maybe don't laugh when other people call them conservative. In all reality even the left in the US is to the right of the rest of the west.