Internet Resources for News
and Commentary on Current Events

Good sources of news and open dialogue on current events are at the heart of democracy. Good news sources are available, but TV news has become almost entirely "info-tainment." The internet has become one of the most valuable source of news and commentary. You can read newspapers from around the globe, and commentary from across the political spectrum.

Reading in a field where people have huge financial and political interests at stake requires learning to read and think critically. It is VERY important to consider the source. You must go beyond simplistic labels, look for supporting facts behind claims (and check them out!), and recognize that there may be lies and distortions, as well as innocent errors, to filter out. You must ask questions such as, "Does this line of reasoning make sense?...Are the facts that are cited really true?...What do those with opposing views say?" Ultimately you must decide for yourself which sources you trust, but don't just discount people who disagree with you. Different perspectives can give you valuable insights and help you understand issues at a deeper level.

Concentration of media ownership into fewer and fewer hands, in this country, makes it harder to find the full range of honest perspective. One way to get fresh perspectives is to see what newspapers from other countries are saying. The internet makes this not only possible but easy. On the internet, reading a paper from another country can be as easy as reading the local paper! Many newspapers from around the world are available in English. They will have their own biases, of course, but often they are not influenced by the same pressures as US papers and can offer a balancing perspective.

Commentary on the news is as important as the facts themselves. People with background and experience can see significance in news stories that casual readers would miss. The commentator will always have a bias. You can never truly eliminate bias, no matter how hard you try, but a commentator should be honest about his or her perspective and should try to present an honest evaluation of the facts from that perspective.

The commentators and news sources to watch out for are those who engage in propaganda ...these days they call it spin. Those engaged in propaganda are not trying to understand and speak the truth; they are cynically trying to manipulate public opinion for political or financial gain. It is important to know from the outset that propaganda exists, and that it does not come exclusively from one political perspective or another. However it is just as important to realize that there are people across the whole political spectrum who do strive to know and speak the truth. Honest, intelligent people can come to different conclusions. Each person sees the world through different eyes, conditioned by different life experiences. We need to learn to listen as well as to speak. Dialogue conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect is essential for our survival as a democracy.

Political Compass (A quiz to see where you stand on a two-dimensional scale rather than the traditional one-dimensional left-right scale. The two scales are based on attitudes about economics and authority. Hitler, for example, was a moderate on questions of economics, but an extremist on authority.)

Project Censored is an ongoing research project by professors and students at California State University, Sonoma to find and report on significant news stories that are blocked or underreported in the "mainstream" press, often because of political or financial pressures. See their annual list of the Top 25 underreported news stories. They also maintain a rich list of web sites used in their research on their "Resources" page.