On a national/international level, I’m most interested in news about the environment, celebrities, and for the time being, politics. I’m usually not too interested in politics, but this most recent election has helped me realize the importance of being informed on certain issues. I care a lot about the environment so I like to know what’s going on with that. For example, I followed the DAPL news closely. As for celebrity news (gossip) that’s my guilty pleasure. I know that news isn’t very important but I just can’t turn away!
On a state level, I like to know news about new policies/laws and police reports. I’m interested in what the governor is saying and doing. I’m also interested in what crimes are happening. My hometown is in Lake County, IL so I’m close to the Wisconsin border. I keep up on news in both Illinois and Wisconsin, however I follow Illinois more closely.
On a more local level, I’m interested in community and school news. I used to work for the Royal Purple Newspaper so I was a lot more up to date on local news because I would know the stories before they were even published. I was most interested in what kind of community events were happening and how people in the community were coming together. At the university, I was most interested in the outcome of sporting events; that was my favorite news to cover. The feature stories in the Royal Purple interest me as well.
I do not closely follow news from my hometown, however I do occasionally read up on it. Most of the news I see is about the passing of someone or a minor crime committed. If I did want to read about what’s going on in Lake County, the best news source would be the Daily Herald.
Typically, when I search for news I use Google’s search engine. When I do go directly to news sites by typing in the web address, I usually visit CNN.com, NBCNews.com, and FoxNews.com. I would say my favorite news site is CNN.com. The three sites I use the most have very similar content, but CNN has a few unique features I like. The site has a ‘live updates’ and ‘live TV’ section, the content is very organized and easily readable, and there is a wide variety of photos, videos, and text.
When I consume news, I like to read text as well as look at photos. I’m a photographer so I always like to analyze the photos. I do occasionally listen to news, such as on TV or a video, but I prefer to read text because then I can go at my own pace. It also allows me to skim and pick and choose the information I want to focus on.
I have interacted with news sources in the past. I have worked for two newspapers (Royal Purple and Southern Lakes Newspaper) as a photojournalist so I have sent them photos and been published.
Social media does lead me to news. I see a lot of news either shared by friends or promoted on Facebook. Typically it is my college age friends or older adults who are sharing news stories relevant to them. I do use Twitter as well, however not as often. I follow a few celebrities that lead me to news. For example, the musician G-Eazy often shares music related news from Complex. I also follow National Geographic and I am able to access a variety of news through what they post to their account. I do not read blogs or listen to podcasts.
I cannot recall a time when I thought a story was legitimate and it ended up being fake. I know I can always trust big news sources such as CNN, NBC, and Fox. I think it would be illegal for them to publish false news. When I do read questionable stories, I try to check other news sources for a similar story. If I can find the same general story from different news outlets, I can trust that the story is accurate.