The amount and variety of news produced today often tests people’s ability to determine its value and veracity. Such a torrent of information threatens to drown news consumers in a river of confusion.
Media coverage of COVID-19, for example, illustrates how news may overwhelm and confuse consumers, and even contribute to mental health woes by escalating anxiety.
The overabundance also undermines people's ability to decipher facts from misinformation.
But techniques exist for ferreting out what we can trust and what we should question, and there are steps we can take to help determine where the news comes from.
The owners of news media outlets often bring their own view of the news they want their organization to focus on. Some see themselves as information providers. Others may want to advance agendas they believe in.
One example of what should be covered in the news was provided by New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs in 1897. It still appears on the newspaper’s masthead: “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”
This statement of values enables us to understand what the journalist or news organization wants to convey and why. Understanding the messenger helps us understand the message.
News consumers should bring a critical eye to the news.
Here’s a list you can use when reading, listening to, or watching the news. It offers steps to bring better focus and context to the relentless news feed.
1. What is news? News, at its core, focuses on information that is “new.” It conveys the latest knowledge about local, state, national, and international occurrences.
2. What’s the difference between your definition of news and that of news providers? The American Press Institute notes that journalism seeks to determine “newsworthiness.” That, it says, involves verification and value.
3. What news organization produces the news you turn to, and what does its mission statement disclose about its purpose and promises?
4. Who does it identify as the audience it serves?
5. What a news organization says it stands for can be found online. For example, search for an “About” heading, a mission statement, or “policies and standards.”
6. What are the names of the journalists associated with the news story, and what’s their background? Check online.
7. How accurate has their work been? You can turn to news research organizations like Poynter and other independent groups focused on transparency and fact-checking.
8. What approach do they take? Is it straight, interpretative or personal? Straight news focuses on verifiable facts. The interpretive approach adds the journalist’s understanding of the subject matter. And the personal approach offers the journalist’s opinions.
9. Consume news from sources across the news spectrum when possible – from local to regional to national and international.
10. Ask yourself the following questions: How do they frame the same news from their vantage point? What, if any, slant seems apparent? What’s the focus of their lens on the news?
11. Ask your friends, and even those who aren’t friends, what their take is on the news. What news sources do they turn to that they trust? How do they evaluate their news?
12. Seek out different perspectives so you can compare them with your own.
13. Look for columnists or commentators whose views you share. Seek out columnists and commentators whose views you don’t share.
14. Be open about the news you consume. Contact news producers when you think their news is incomplete or incorrect. Professional news producers welcome constructive feedback. They see it as beneficial to improving.
15. Consult other sources of news and knowledge for more insight on the news: magazines, books, podcasts, and Instagram, for example.
16. Consume a variety of news: the good, the bad and, if necessary, the ugly.
17. Finally, take a break from news. Too much news overwhelms. The right diet of news enlightens.
Reportr is now on Quento. Download the app on iOS and Android or visit the Quento website for more articles and videos from Reportr and your favorite websites.
