When I consume news, it is usually at the local level. I enjoy checking in on Facebook pages that update me on what is happening in my hometown and here in Whitewater. Another way I view news is less traditional. I look at my hometown’s recent arrests every day. Illinois has to keep a public record of every arrest. By checking this website, I can stay up to date on the crimes being committed in my town; it is also a way to check in and see what trouble the people I went to high school with are getting into.
When looking for national news, my favorite site is X, formally known as Twitter. X is very lenient on what they choose to censor, so I receive a more transparent view when I use that. I also enjoy the community on the platform. Something that appeals to me on the site is the threads or comment section; by utilizing this feature, I can see different opinions from people with various backgrounds. This allows me to become more open-minded when viewing specific stories.
I do not go out of my way to Google specific news stories unless I still have questions about the story after seeing it on another platform. Here at school, I do not watch the news on the television because I cannot access cable. When I am home, I will watch the news on the television with my parents if a big story happens. My mom likes to watch the news on television, but I do not enjoy waiting for the segment on a topic that I am interested in when I can just open social media and hear about it instantly.
I use AI in my daily life to improve my writing and generate ideas. I do not use AI to find out news because I often find AI to be wrong and misinformative. At this time, with the technology, I would rather trust a human source, but I can see the technology advancing someday and getting to the point where I will trust it for information.
When I consume news, I prefer to watch it initially and then look up and research more in-depth and specific questions that I have. This way, I first listen to the backstory but then read about the parts that interest me. One thing I like about X is the interactive poll option. By using this feature, I can get an idea of how others feel about the story.
I try not to leave comments myself because I do not want to worry about my digital footprint in the future if I change my mind on a topic. I have never reached out to a reporter, either, but after taking courses similar to this one, I could see myself doing that in the future.
Social media is the primary way I get my news. One thing that bothers me about social media is the political posts. These would often flood my feed, and I was just not interested in viewing the content. I have unfriended people because I was so uninterested in the posts.
I do not go out of my way to follow any new sites on X, most of the news I gather comes from under the trending section of the website. Usually, I will fall asleep to a podcast every night. The leading podcast that I listen to is Joe Rogan. He has many interesting guests to listen to. A few times, I thought a story was true, but it wasn’t. To avoid this, I will fact-check the story by viewing it from multiple sources now.
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