This topic isn't about any one political issue or anything, but I've noticed people talking about a lot of things that I really should know about. What are some good unbiased websites that have truthful history and stuff like that on it? There are a lot of debates here that I feel like I want to get involved in, but don't know enough to say anything. Thanks, Aaron
For the most part I'll check with more mainstream news sources first for info on a topic or university information if it involves research studies. I'am not a big fan of "alternative sources" necessarily. Anyone can get on the net and create their own version of the truth.
But the mainstream has more standards and guidelines it follows,alternative sources don't. You saw what happened when Dan Rather didn't double check his sources on Bush and the National Guard.
It depends what you're looking into. For historical perspective, you'd probably be best looking into the library. You can usually find breif explanations of historical events from wikipedia and about.com. For current political perspectives, you can usually find good articles about them on the web. I usually read major news sites CNN, BBC, Reuters, Xinhua, India Times, Al Jazeera... too look into what I'm looking for, and then I use google 'news' search to look more into the topics I'm intrested in. I avoid commentary and alternate history for the most part, some of it's worth looking into if you're able to wade through the unbelivable amounts of crap.
Alternative sources like mainstream sources create their own standards and guidelines to suit their own version of the truth. So everyone creates their own version of the truth. The question is which truth do you like?
I'd take everything anyone says with a grain of salt too. There are some here who I take with a couple buckets, but you can decide that for yourself.
Here's two of my favorite for information. http://www.factcheck.org/default.html More political. ------------------------- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ More news oriented. They have good interviews presenting different sides to issues.
www.Congress.org is good too. It'll tell you how your representatives vote. My Congressman was one of about 30 who didn't want the vote to continue the voting rights act. Which amongst other things prohibits a Poll Tax. If that isn't telling, I don't know what is. Idiot.
I just read the two extremes (Fox being fairly conservative, while CNN beings rediculously liberal), and then some middle of the road sites such as the BBC and so on. When I want specific news that is not from the US, I go into the country's website. Per example, I get all of my Israeli news out of www.walla.co.il , which intercepts the news much faster than the global media does.
It's no surprise some of the people in here believe the nonsense they do. They claim the mainstream media has "higher standards," and therefore must also be more concerned with bringing their audiences the truth. Yeah, there is nothing better than having five corporations control all the media in the country. I really have a lot of faith that they're main objective is to make sure I know what's going on. People are ignorant.
I don't believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater. While mainstream media has it's faults, there are nuggets of truth in there. You just have to learn how to sift through it and come to your own conclusions. Certainly it gives you one perspective of the news (and isn't that what it's all about anyways? perspective?), you just have to chose the one that works for you. I get my news from across the board. I go to Rush Limbaugh to know what the right are saying in the matter, mainstream to know what people are being lead to believe and then to the alternative sources for the left/real scoop. But then, we don't even know if the alternative media is being honest with us either. They have their own motives with the news too. So it just goes back to sifting through the waste until you find what you are looking for. Research, research, research! I can't stress it enough. Historical perspectives are key too. While they may be slanted, it helps you put two and two together in some matters.
The fact that both the far out left and the far out right urge people to distrust the main stream media suggest that is isn't as bad as either of them claim.
Jeez. Try contributing positively rather than just criticizing everyone else. Where do you get your news?
Hi amp Forget websites, read books, and not just a page or a paragraph but the whole thing. If you really have to use websites then do a good mix and when you can check that it is backed up by something else (preferably a peer-reviewed book with references and footnotes).
That's why I will stick with mainstream news sources. They don't get caught up in reporting every sensational/conspiracy that comes along. They do focus on putting out factual info because their credibility is more at stake.
