When it comes to consuming news, I have a couple different sites and sources I get information from. At the national and international level, I normally utilize social media sites to give me that information. X is my go-to site for news, although I have to be selective with what news I consume on that app. I strive to find neutral news profiles, including “BNO News” and popular news organizations like WGN and CBS. At the state and local level, I watch the NBC Chicago newscast every morning. Doing this helps me stay in touch with news around the Chicagoland area. Recently, a crash happened in Gurnee where a wrong-way driver in a stolen car caused a three-vehicle accident. NBC Chicago reported on the news almost immediately after it happened, but did not give any information outside of what they had. A few hours later, a Lake and McHenry County scanner X page reported on the full story, which is often where I get news even closer to home. If I had to choose, NBC and WGN Chicago are my favorite news organizations.
As a whole, social media is where I find most of my news. On these sites and apps is where I can find different forms of multimedia journalism, and I use most of them often. I mostly watch videos and broadcasts, as shown in the aforementioned NBC Chicago example, but I also read many web articles that use text and storytelling to display the news. As for other forms of multimedia, including photo slideshows, audio reports, and other graphics, I do not utilize them nearly as much as I look at text and video, although I enjoy a nice photo gallery every now and then.
When it comes to finding news outside of my normal sources on social media, I like to check for legitimacy by using Google to double check. If something sounds blasphemous, I look up terms related to that news to the story, and if any major news organizations have reported on it– CBS, NBC, WGN– chances are that the headline is legitimate. Finding legitimacy immediately becomes more difficult when discussing blogs and podcasts. While I do not commonly read blogs or listen to podcasts, I recognize that a lot of famous individuals have one for themselves. What I have noticed growing up is that when a famous person says something that may be fake news or blasphemy, readers and listeners likely believe them. For this reason, I tend to stay away from news blogs and podcasts. Additionally, interacting with news articles through comments or emails to reporters are other ways to further prove the legitimacy of the news, but I also tend to stay away from these practices. I enjoy doing things independently, and proving legitimacy and reliability is included in that idea.
All of the aforementioned sites, organizations and news strategies are what I primarily use to get my news. I do not normally use Google to find websites, as I have already established which organizations and sources I like to get my news from. I received most of these sources from my parents, especially WGN and NBC, and BNO News and I found Lake and McHenry County through scrolling on social media. I have also never used AI for finding news, unless it involves asking sports questions in which answers could be found through past news articles, like injury history or statistical production. I do not want to rely on AI to get my information. For example, ChatGPT has a knowledge cutoff in mid-2023, which makes it impossible to find recent news through that browser.
To summarize, social media is where I find a majority of my news. X is my go-to app, but I ensure that I fact check any news that I find on social media.
Leave a Reply