Breaking Down Breaking News

By Chloe Brussard

        How do you get your news? A newspaper? Magazine? Television? Media is all around us, feeding us information that we have to decide for ourselves what to believe. Preferences on receiving news connected to politics has especially divided some people. There are a lot of news sources out there that do have confirmation bias: they report on the information that supports their claims. When I watch, or even read about news, I try my best to get a variety of different perspectives from all kinds of sources. As an aspiring journalist, I want to learn how to take in news and then release it back out to the public. Seeing how the world is currently in a bit of a crisis, it's easy to be fed incorrect facts or negative and false claims about someone. In order to help create change, and help disperse the truth, it's vital that the information that I receive be as truthful as possible.

    I discovered this news source about three years ago, working on a project on satire for my AP Language class. My teacher showed it to us to give us examples of satire, and since then I have been captivated by it. The news that gets reported is truthful news, but it does so that adds a touch of comedy to it. Sometimes I see article titles that are just too complicated for me to understand, which is what turns me away from reading them. With The Onion, the title that I see is almost a dumbed down version of what the topic really is. Now, that doesn't take away from the importance of the article, or the topic that it's reporting on. It makes it simple to understand, which is something that I think there needs to be more of. Another part of this that I like is that the article titles are so sarcastic, that sometimes it makes the subject seem a bit silly. Today, everything is about politics. It has taken over journalism in this country, and this news source is a way to see just how silly some parts of it are. Again, it doesn't take away from the subject of the article. If anything, it makes it more inviting to read because it's something that grabs your attention, something you want to know more about. 

    What I like about Buzzfeed news is the simplicity of it. All the headlines aren't really titles, they are state what the article is about and that's really it. No bells or whistles, which is something that I appreciate. Sometimes an article will come across my screen and it will have such a complex title that I couldn't even tell you what it was about. Another thing that I appreciate about this news source is the simplicity of the website. The background is white, the words are black, and important topic are in a red bubble. It might look boring to some people, but as someone who likes to get to the point, it's nice to see that I don't need to do much searching to find an article. Not only does Buzzfeed News report on politics, but it also reports on media and entertainment. I know, that almost all news sources do this, but Buzzfeed is an entertainment company, and I like how it's sticking to its roots and isn't becoming a completely political website. 

    The Today Show is a popular news network showed on NBC. Unlike the news sources I wrote about before, The Today Show is a network on television as well as a website source. The positivity that this network radiates is just astounding. Waking up in the morning and turning on this network to receive the news is something that I enjoy doing. There are musical guests and feel good stories as well as reporting on current events that are directly impacting some of its audience. What I appreciate about this source is that it doesn't mostly report on current events, but so many other topics like food, entertainment, and trending news. Also, the Coronavirus didn't totally take over this news website. It's only a tab, just like all the other topics. It also has a lot of pictures on the website which is sometimes more inviting than an interesting title. Seeing celebrities or pictures of food seems much more inviting than a tricky/complex title. 

    Toucher and Rich is a radio show on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, Massachusetts. This is a sports radio station, where there are two announcers, Fred Toettcher and Rich Shertenlieb. It's kind of like a podcast, and what these men do is just talk about sports. It's very similar to ESPN except is is extremely informal. These men put their opinions on the air, seemingly, without regard of consequences. They review especially football, baseball, hockey, and basketball games, along with stories about the athletes outside of their sport. They hardly ever talk about politics, and the only mention of COVID is how it has effected sports.  I got into this radio station through my dad. When he would drive us to school or to soccer games, he would always listen to Toucher and Rich. The hosts are funny, charismatic people who just talk about what they want to. It's their show, and they express themselves how they want. They talk positively about some things, like a great catch someone made in a football game, but they also aren't afraid to talk negatively about other things, like how terrible some athletes played during a game. I could call this a feel good talk show, but that would kind of be lying. Instead, I classify this news source under truthful. They state the facts, and then state their opinions, which gives their listeners a chance to create their own opinions before hearing others. 

    Finally, The New York Times. This might be the most credible news source that I receive information from. New York City is such a well known city, where people aspire to go to be successful. And because of the popularity and credibility of this news source, only the best of the best are chosen to work there. That means, the best journalists are writing for this source. Their education has prepared them for that moment where they get to write their articles. The New York Times is not going to publish an article that they think is not worthy of being in their newspaper. It might not seem like a good reason for reading a source, but I think it is. The exclusivity and popularity of The New York Times has given them the power to only hire the best journalists. And I want to receive is news from a journalist who knows what they're doing, and that's all anyone can ask for.