One of my rituals for this new year is to choose a word for the coming year. My word for 2011 is EXPERIMENT. To support my EXPERIMENTAL focus, I commit to post the results of a new experiment each Sunday of this year. 
This week I experimented with getting my news from different sources.
As an undergrad, I was a political science/ broadcast journalism major. My dream was to become the next Jane Pauley or Diane Sawyer. Dreams are good.
ONE of the many gifts of that education was that I love to pay attention to what’s happening in The World. I read, listen and watch. I also translate, filter and judge.
And I have my favorite news sources.
Without naming names, this week I did my best to get my news from sources I normally wouldn’t. It was a HUGE news week. I felt very tempted to switch back to get The True story.
Then it hit me.
I was getting The Truth.
EVERYTHING someone ELSE says to me is filtered through their beliefs/values/fears/hopes. So everyone speaks THEIR Truth.
Favorites are chosen when those filters match.
I wish I could give you a long list of what I learned and how this experiment has changed my news-gathering approach. My list is short though.
I’m going back to my favorites.
How do you gather your news?
Lisa’s Cheap Therapy blog 
I enjoy studying history. Most historians I have studied under were current event addicts. ‘Seeing history in the making.’ they called it. Unfortunately it is constantly proven that the ‘truth’ of current events is often not truth at all. Iraq’s WMDs, the ‘Victory’ in Iraq, the inability of small nations to govern themselves, and the ‘guarantee’ of a better life under democratic forms of goverment come quickly to mind. I had come to be distrustful of all news. Sound bites used to prove something often hide what is really intended. Talking heads speak over each other and interrupt for fear their point might not make it into prime time. I now check the local weather on my computer and, if I have time to waste, scroll down the news page in case there is an upcoming event that I may want to join. Sometimes I read the comments sections to see a bit of wit, though more often than not it is half-wits. I’ll stick to history.
Jim, i’m a history nerd, too. for me, history make The News (and especially newscasters) more entertaining ;).
jim morgan~ i TOTALLY agree with your opinion of the news as being
pretty much untrustworthy, and as lisa pointed out, news is and always has been the interpretation of the event, but isn’t history just “old news?”
I am a very illiterate literate person when it comes to the news! I don’t watch the news on tv or listen to it on the radio. My theory is this: IF it ain’t happenin’ in my house, my neighborhood, or at my job, I don’t need to know it. I surely know this is not a very educated approach, but it works for me!
And fortunately, I have many news junkie friends who keep me up to date on current events! 🙂
I grew up watching the Today Show. Well, not exactly watching it, but going through the morning routine with it on in the background, occasionally drifting over to look when something interesting came on. When I went out on my own I carried on the family tradition, with the various co-hosts feeling like members of the family. ( I miss Katie & her silliness! Ann C. is sooo cool. I want to be her!) That’s my main source of news for the day. (Actually I have on the local affiliate’s early morning show first, so I can get the weather and local stuff.) My husband won’t let me watch the evening news, because it depresses him, so I’m oblivious to the world in the evening. I also read our local twice weekly newspaper (mostly to see if any of my husband’s or my former students are on the crime page, as is often the case) and to see if anyone I know LIKE LISA has their picture in it for doing something interesting. I also subscribe to the New York Times online, mostly for the arts and a connection back to my home state. I love driving long distances when I can catch “All Things Considered” , etc. on whatever NPR station is nearby. So, those are my primary sources, and I guess I then just try to sort out what I take in, to arrive at MY own version of the truth!
Jane, Judi & ML, THANKS… love how all of you focus on finding your own Truth!