An Unpopular Culture Survival Guide that Needs Your Help
One of the big problems I’ve encountered since exiting social media is not knowing what’s going on in the world. Based on the theory that it’s better to be uninformed than misinformed, I gave up on mainstream media years ago. Social media certainly exposes users to a lot of news and opinion, but the only “balance” a user can obtain is by weighing one extreme news/op-ed story against another.
So I’ve been searching for balanced news sources. I’ve reviewed about 30, and here are four I’m using now. I hope you find them useful. If you know of good balanced news sources, please share them in comments.
1. AllSides
The AllSides website is committed to civil discourse and balanced reporting. AllSides has a three-column layout for news from the left, news from the center, and news from the right. The sources it draws from are primarily MSM news organizations, which is not ideal, but it uses relatively good ones for the most part. On the plus side, AllSides is updated frequently, has a lot of content, and definitely presents a full perspective on important stories. There is no AllSides app as far as I can tell.
2. Balanced News
Balanced News is an iPhone app (with no website I can find) that draws from similar sources as AllSides. What’s different about Balanced News is how much you can customize it. You decide whether you want to see news from the left, right, and/or center; and you can select specific topics to view. The layout is uncluttered and easy to navigate, which is not always the case with news aggregator apps.
3. The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times is available as a website, app and printed newspaper. It’s a privately owned, worldwide news organization headquartered in New York that’s been around since 2000. It has strong ties to China and a strong anti-communist bias. I discovered The Epoch Times when a copy appeared on my driveway one day; I really like the quality of reporting and the subject matter it covers. It stays away from gossipy, peripheral news and digs into important and often underreported issues. You can learn more about The Epoch Times here.
4. Intellectual Takeout
Intellectual Takeout, with an app and website, features original and aggregated opinion pieces on a wide range of issues: culture, economics, education, family, history, literature, philosophy, politics, religion, and science. IT has a strong conservative bias, but treats issues with far more balance and depth than what I’ve found elsewhere — and also manages to do so with fairly brief essays. It’s a comprehensive digest of opinion that’s bound to get you thinking seriously about serious issues.
Can You Add to the List?
What online and/or print sources can you recommend for balanced news and opinion?
Here’s a good source for in-depth economic analysis: https://mises.org/
Berrmot,
Unfortunately, I have nothing to add to the mix. I had given up on finding something. So, thanks much for the digging and vetting. You’ve encouraged me to look more.
Bill
Hi Bill, If you start vetting, you’ll notice lots of articles recommending unbiased news sources that merely reflect the author’s bias, and are highly partisan. It makes you realize how many people are not aware of their own bias.