To paraphrase writer Ben Hecht, Keeping track of events in the world by following the news is like trying to tell time by the second hand of a watch. It’s not clear that the news media set out to make it difficult to maintain some perspective, some balance, between what is important and what is filler and fluff. But that’s often what we get when we follow our Facebook news feeds. It’s stressful and exhausting. I wouldn’t recommend it. But I do recommend trying to find some ways you can trust to understand the world around us. And so, here is some advice, for what it might be worth:

Keep in mind, news media get to decide:

• What to report;
• What not to report;
• Where to report it (at the bottom of the page, buried in the middle of a broadcast, in the opinion portion of the evening cable ‘news’ lineup);
• How to report it (what sources to use, what depth of coverage);
• How long to report it (for one day, for one hour, for days, weeks, months); some stories persist, have legs as they say (think of Fox and Benghazi), and some stories are quickly eclipsed by junk food news (The CIA torture report was eclipsed in many outlets by George W. Bush’s portraiture exhibition).

So what follow are some basic suggestions. And I pledge that if you make the effort, you stand a much better chance of knowing what’s going on in the world and in the news, avoiding junk food and filler and misinformation. But . . . here’s the thing . . . it takes effort. Although the source of the following quote is not entirely clear (but not Thomas Jefferson), ‘Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty‘ (I think just paying a little more attention is a good start!).

1. Don’t rely on TV for news (but it’s a great medium for learning about persuasion and propaganda)–the business model and money reward superficial and entertaining content. But it is useful to understand how that programming serves as ‘bait.’
2. Don’t rely on any one source exclusively for news–you will be missing perspectives, because most all sources are targeting certain audiences, and not necessarily catering to others. And that’s just the nature of a business that cannot master omnipotence.
3. If you’ve followed with the first two, in your go-to mix of news sources, have at least one that is non-commercial, because at the least they will not be beholden to the advertising filter (although they will have other filtering pressures, readers or donors with expectations, for instance).
4. Include a credible international news source, because they can often report on US news in ways that US outlets can only do at risk of flak, boycotts, being labeled ‘fake news’ or ‘enemy of the people’ by a thin-skinned president, etc.
5. Find some sources that you appreciate that provide some analysis of the news. For this one obviously you can use sources closer to your own perspectives and philosophies. But still, they should have some journalistic and intellectual integrity, and not be driven by cheap propaganda (so, non-commercial sources may be better, or for instance I have op-ed writers I like to read at a variety of outlets). If you’re so inclined, for instance, John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight segments are informative, yes, left-leaning, but fact-based and with a coherent logic.
6. Supplement your news intake with allied resources that allow you to learn about the news, without being part of it. Non-partisan think tanks, for instance, think of Pew Research, Brookings Institute, Citizens for Responsive Ethics in Washington (CREW), there are lots with credibility. And if you’re not sure about credibility, check out sites that assess credibility!
7. Consider a fact-checker, especially as conspiracists slowly infiltrate mainstream media with stories and sources. My preferred is Politifact, created by the Tampa Bay Times and later purchased by the Poynter Institute. Snopes isn’t terrible, as far as providing fact-based responses to various stories, conspiracies, and fake news articles.
8. Patience. Follow breaking news, of course, but keep in mind that it is often incomplete, based on a paucity of sources, and likely to change over time. You’ll have a better idea of how an event is playing out after a week’s worth of reporting.