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It’s only human to react to some news stories, especially the ones that have an impact on you. But other stories are meant to get you to react — clicks and shares define success for many publishers. That’s fine, but what if your reactions are causing you to miss the substance and meaning of some news … Continue reading "Episode 32: Don’t Get Sucked In"

You think some mainstream news organizations are “biased”? So what! Don’t “Bring Your Own Facts” by cherry-picking only the info you like. Ignore “bias” or set it aside. Go for accuracy, use multiple new sources to get the facts and still think for yourself.

Like “losing the forest for the trees,” we run the risk of missing news about genuinely important developments when we’re swimming in a sea of memes about orbs, handslaps and other ephemera. We have some tips on how not to miss the bigger picture.

The breaking news bombardment is enough to make even hardcore news junkies like us want to say, “Stop!” You’ve GOT to take a break. We have some tips to help you get through the days and weeks of unending news alerts.

The continuing turmoil over President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey presents a practical opportunity to put the 4-step “Chase It Down” process to work for you. We walk you through tips for using it as reporting of the story continues.

You’ve asked “How?”, so we’re answering your questions about specific practical steps to help you sort through the news everyday. We describe a 4-step process — an internal checklist — to guide you as scan and consume news from social and mainstream media sources: Headline, Source, Report, Cross-check.

If you think you’re a highly skeptical, picky and super-critical reader of the news, you’ve never worked with an editor at a major news organization. We wrap up our conversation with veteran reporter Brian Sullivan about the reality of how the news reaches you. Get the behind-the-scenes look at how news stories are edited and published, … Continue reading "Podcast Episode 26: How the News Reaches You, A Behind The Scenes Look, Part 2"

When you read, watch or listen to the news you may think those stories reached you via some natural organic process of a reporter doing a few interviews, writing it up and an editor giving it a once-over before publishing it. Not hardly. We go behind the scenes in a two-part episode with veteran reporter … Continue reading "Podcast Episode 25: How The News Reaches You, A Behind The Scenes Look, Part 1"

In 1964 Marshall McLuhan said, “the medium is the message.” That holds true today for social media and how it affects the look, language, type and frequency of the news reaching us. It pays for news users to be aware of the pros and cons of using social media to keep up on events.

“Fake news” used to mean phony stories planted online for financial or political gain. But lately the label’s being attached to factual info that doesn’t support someone’s beliefs expectations or goals, even including the weather. How do news users know what to believe?