Assignment #1

Digital Self

I’d be lying to say that I keep track of the news on a regular basis, but the news I consume tends to be more focused on tech or media, whether that be new developments and devices or the job market for creative careers such as music or art. The site where I get much of this news is from channels on YouTube, which also means that my preferred news medium is video. I will read text-based news when I am researching a given topic or it is a subject I am thoroughly interested in. One such site I enjoy viewing from time to time is Loudwire, which focuses on music news and interviews, especially in the heavy metal scene. When it comes to finding text-based news, I will typically use search engines such as Google to find events relevant to my topic of interest. This is most helpful for national and state-wide news, which are the two degrees of news I pay the most attention to. International news is admittedly a weak spot for me. Local news is a different story. For that, I see the local newspaper sitting on the kitchen table back home. Sometimes, I will hear updates on the local radio station. Other times, I will simply be told about recent events by people I know. It makes sense that in order to get a good grasp on the hometown news, one must talk to those who live there. This, however, is roughly the extent of my news consumption. I do not use much social media, so my levels of engagement with news within that medium are nonexistent. The same can be said for other sources, such as blogs or podcasts. I also do not use artificial intelligence in any capacity. I have been meaning to experiment and try out some of the various tools that are available today, but I have yet to dip my toes into the uncharted water. One source I also do not use but would like to try out is Ground News. I have seen advertisements for it, and it sounds like an interesting news site I would like to get some time. To summarize what Ground News is, it takes news from a variety of sources and organizes them according to how politically leaning they are. It just seems like a great way to get news without worrying about it being swayed or opinionated. At the very least, it allows you to know when it is. I know that the way I usually fact-check sources is by seeing if I can find the same claims in any other stories. It is also useful to verify the credibility of the sources. From my experience with taking these precautionary steps, I cannot think of an instance in which I fell for a story that turned out to be fake.