Blog #1

My 5 Sources of News and Information

 Believe it or not, there is news all over. When scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, when talking to professors, when watching tv, or even as slight as going to the grocery store. In this day in age, it's hard not to run into the current news all around you. 

One of the main news sources I get my information from is my dad. Although we are 500 miles apart from each other while I am at school he is the main source of information in my life. Since I am much older and more understanding of the world around me now I try to pay more attention. Because my dad has been a cop for over 20 years it has helped me see sides of information differently because when talking about local news, I get the first-hand story about these situations. This has helped me see how the reporters alter their information and what is realistic and what is not. Getting news from my dad has also been my easiest and quickest outlet. Anytime I hear something happens through word of mouth I go to my dad and see what he has to say about it. 

Another source that I get news from is Fox News. Although I rely greatly on my dad for news, since I can remember Fox was the first channel on when we would sit on the couch and watch tv. They have always published news that is easy to navigate and read so that has made it a top source for me. Their website has tabs to make it easy to navigate and find what you need. When I am looking for something specific it gets frustrating when I can not find it and this makes it easy to narrow down searches. Since I am older and more mature I have started forming my own opinions outside of some my parents have and Fox has given me an outlet to find that information and evaluate it.

The third source that I get my news from is Facebook. Although this social media platform is mostly used by the older generation I like it so I can connect with family and friends and I feel as if it is more realistic than Instagram is. On any given day I can scroll through Facebook and get an update about someone's recent birthday, a volunteer event in the area, or even sometimes about the most recent fatality. I find that getting news from a social media platform initially seems less reliable because of where you found it but when I see something I always double-check it by going to my other sources also. 

Another reliable way of getting news that I believe is new and will be a growing source is the News App on iPhones. Nearly half of Americans spend 5-6 hours on average on their iPhones a day which means the leading source of the news most likely comes from your iPhone. Having an app built in it makes it very easy to get news. This app outlines the top stories and gives headlines that make it easy to read. You can also follow news sources and listen to podcasts. This app gives a way for people of all types to get their news. I have also found it helpful because I get notifications when top stories get released to the app so I can at least read the headline in my notifications and then go back and read the entire article. 

Lastly, I find information from Google. Although Google is a search engine, there are tabs at the top that are news, images, video, etc which allow the topic I search to be narrowed down. If one of my other sources to find news did not have what I was looking for I would go to google and click the news tab and further investigate this way. Although it is not as reliable to me I still use this information and just read further into it. I think that this source helps the general population find more basic information easier.