How Do You Get Your News?

Guess which DC museum is my favorite. 

A very smart but ill-informed friend told me earlier this week that he feels disconnected from the world since he doesn't have a regular news diet. 

He asked where I go to keep up, and what outlets he should check out on a daily basis. 

Because he works in finance, I recommended the Wall Street Journal (duh!). Even though I'm not particularly business savvy (yet), I'm especially interested in the health, media & tech industries. But I also like the WSJ for its multimedia website, stellar foreign reporting, and crazy A-heds.  


Also, look to the leaders of whatever industry you're in and read what they read. This is a great clip of Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger & Bill Gates discussing their news consumption habits. (Buffett reads five: his local newspaper, the Financial Times, WSJ, the New York Times, and USA Today; Munger likes The Economist.)   

Since I've been in grad school I haven't been able to keep up with the news much, so I rely on my ever-evolving Twitter newsfeed & lists to give me the headlines from 1,000 or so of my favorite journalists, like Tampa Bay Times environmental reporter Craig Pittman, Canadian public health reporter André Picard, and Sarah van Gelder of Yes! Magazine. 

I like NPR's app because I have several favorite member stations, like DC's WAMU, Seattle's KUOW, and the small but rad WPSU out of Penn State. 

Since it's summer break and I have more time to read, I use my school subscription to browse a gazillion newspapers via Library PressDisplay.

It's like my own private Newseum. 

But my favorite source by far is Washington Journal, C-SPAN's daily call-in show. Every morning its hosts go through the big stories in the major papers, and the guests always include a slew of journalists.

This morning one of the guests was Yahoo! News political reporter Chris Moody. He spoke about the business of web reporting (seriously, who needs j-school? Just watch a ton of C-SPAN). 

 

Another topic of today's show asked viewers how they get their news. A caller commented that C-SPAN is her main source because she doesn't have to worry about a bias or slant. She can watch and "hear it from the mouth of the individual” politician or public figure, and make up her own mind about what's happening. 

Same reason I like C-SPAN. I stream it online almost every day, several times a day, and listen to the app during my commute or workouts. 

My friend's inquiry made me curious about where my most informed friends get their news. I started with Creative Loafing's news & politics editor Mitch Perry, one of my first editors back when we were both with the WMNF Evening News. 

Mitch does the work of three people, never sleeps, and his weekly recycling bin could fill a small library. He sent me his reading list via email: 

I begin my day (actually in the middle of the night) by reading as much as possible. ALL of the New York Times; US, World, Arts, opinion, sports.  

Then at my front door in the morning are copies of the Tampa Tribune, Tampa Bay Times and USA Today. Occasionally I'll pick up a Wall Street Journal, and a couple of days a week, a New York Post (guilty pleasure).  

At work before I write I read the Sayfie Review (an aggregate of Florida political stories), the Drudge Report, Salon, RealClearPolitics. Later in the morning I'll go check out Slate and JimRomenesko, with occasional searches on The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, National Review, The Hill and Roll Call (depending on how busy I am). 

I don't subscribe to New York Magazine so I go online on Monday to download my favorite stories there. I also subscribe to the New Yorker, Time, Sports Illustrated, New York Observer, Columbia Journalism Review, The Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly...and I think that's it. 

Also following Twitter, which often sends me to places unknown.....Sometimes I don't reach all those places either, depending on if I'm at my desk all day or not.

Slacker! On Facebook I caught up with Caitlin Constantine, the senior web content editor at Bay News 9, (and a former CL intern) who can give Mitch a run for his money: 

Pretty much every morning I scan the front page of the NYT website and I listen to NPR's All Things Considered and/or Morning Edition. If I am running late to work, I will also listen to the BBC. 

As part of my job, I read the Tampa Bay Times and CNN.com. I also check out the Bradenton Herald and the Ledger. I rarely watch TV news even though TV news is my job, although sometimes I do watch more opinion-oriented shows by Rachel Maddow, Melissa Harris-Perry and Chris Hayes.  

While doing research for my blog, I check out the front page of the following sites: the Atlantic, Salon, Slate, Huffington Post, CNN, MSNBC, the American Prospect, the Nation. I also read major woman-oriented blogs like BlissTree, the Gloss, the Frisky, and sometimes Jezebel. (But not xoJane*, I hate that site.)   

Finally, I regularly check in on tumblr, where I follow a lot of people who might be considered social justice bloggers, and on Twitter, where I follow a bunch of other journalist/opinionator/media types.  

Plus I follow a ton of blogs, usually about feminism, gay rights, trans rights, fitness, health and wellness and skepticism.

In her spare time, Caitlin runs marathons, competes in triathlons, and chronicles it all on her blog Fit and Feminist. 

*However, we both continue to hold a candle for Sassy. 

iCivics uCivics weallCivics

President Reagan and his Supreme Court Justice nominee Sandra Day O'Connor at the White House

In 2009 retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor founded iCivics as a resource for teachers & students. It's brimming with free educational materials and games. 


Today she was on C-SPAN speaking about the importance of civics education for our youth: 

 “Young people need to know how our government works and how they are part of it. It isn’t self evident. And in schools today, I don’t think it’s widely taught. And young people want to know how to be effective. They want to know their role as citizens and how to make things happen at the local level, at the state level, and national level. 

And iCivics tries to do that, tries to help young people develop their own proposals and programs, and learn in the process more about how government works." 

Iowa's Senator Grassley concurred:  

“I believe that all citizens in a democracy benefit from the participation of informed and active citizens.” 

Yet he doesn’t believe the federal government should “develop and mandate civic standards,” so I don’t know how he’d like to encourage a more civically engaged citizenship...


As much as I like hearing all of this talk, I'd prefer to see more action. 

Thank God for C-SPAN

Every day Americans of every stripe call into C-SPAN's morning show, the Washington Journal, and begin their commentary by thanking a higher power for C-SPAN. I concur.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple of My Eye: November is National Caregivers Month

This past summer every other gal I know was glowing and pregnant, eyes focused to the future with tiny, new lives. Meanwhile, I felt as if I had taken a few steps backwards.

I got divorced and was starting over, beginning with needing a place to live. I had nothing to my name, except maybe my overpriced B.A. degree and the certified nursing assistant (CNA) license I got several years ago at the start of the recession when I needed a job.

When I spotted a Craigslist ad for a live-in caregiver to a 91-year-old British lady who resides close to my day job, I jumped on the opportunity.

I liked Apple immediately. We were introduced over tea by her daughter Colette. Both Apple and I were being uncharacteristically reserved, so Colette steered the conversation. She apologized when it fell onto British TV shows for several minutes, fearing I'd been left out.

But I wasn’t. To show my interest I mentioned that I was a huge Hugh Grant fan. 

The 91-year-old smiled broadly and replied, "Who isn't?!"

This would not be the last time we shared a grin over our mutual appreciation of British reprobate hotties. (We watch House together weekly.) 



The irony that is Tampa Do-Gooder, if you hadn’t already noticed, is that I'm no different than any other well-meaning person who occasionally does the right thing. I have heart and good intentions, but following through with challenging tasks, especially long-term ones, is pretty darn tough.

The fact of the matter remains that I came to work as a CNA & caregiver out of humbling desperation. I would not do this for anyone in my own family. It’s physically & emotionally draining, long hours, and I think about quitting every day. 

Part of the challenge is that as I take care of someone else's needs, I feel like I’m missing out on rebuilding my own life. I’ve always been impatient though. Hanging out with a healthy 91-year-old every day, however, is a constant reminder that I’ve got time (and if I don’t, what could I do about it anyway?). It’s a good lesson in balance for this impatient fool who rushes into and through everything. I might get a lot done, but I often don’t know how to enjoy the moment I’m in.

I loved Apple a day into our weekend trial run. Sharp as a tack, witty and blunt, she reads the paper daily and vehemently defends the young president of her adopted country. She occasionally puts up with my C-SPAN habit and I cook something or study when she puts on Chris Wallace.

Having lost both of my grandmothers during college, Apple is my bonus granny. And I am especially grateful that my presence is among the reasons she doesn’t have to think about trading her house in for facility living. For now, we're both safe and flourishing at home.

Writing Resources: Publishing in the 21st Century

As a writer who continues to look for new avenues of writing income & outlets for my work, I found this program, Publishing in the 21st Century, educational and inspiring. It was from the L.A. Times Festival of Books in April and aired on C-SPAN over the weekend. 


Publisher Johnny Temple spoke about success in writing not being the next Danielle Steel franchise (my words, not his), but being able to sell seven or eight thousand copies. 


The days of "making it" as any kind of artist seem to be as much of a joke as the American Dream - and I say that as both an artsy type and a former loan processor for a big, irresponsible American bank. 


Writers shouldn't stop producing just because the carrot appears to be a little less golden. Can't eat gold anyway.


Topics addressed in the panel include self-publishing, e-books, submitting, and more. 

Ode to C-SPAN

My ears perk up when I hear mention of C-SPAN, although in the past week my favorite cable television channel/internet content provider has gotten the egghead treatment from WWDTM, Stephen Colbert, and more.

I wanted to pay homage to C-SPAN for doing right when most mainstream media outlets are failing us tremendously. For example, this past Saturday morning while the liberal-leaning cable news channel spent about 7 minutes on Lindsay Lohan's latest lapse in judgement, over on C-SPAN the topic was "Is the UN still necessary?"

Granted their loosest cannon may be their morning show, Washington Journal. It totally reminds me of my days in community access TV where conspiracy theorists, various loons, and hatemongers called in just because they could.

But that comes with serving the public. (I should know, I work at the library.) Many other callers are intelligent, proactive, and worried citizens. I realize snarky cynics don't actually care what the masses have to say, but I do, and what better way to hear their opinions than to broadcast them for anyone to hear? Public discourse is sorely absent from our superstar talking-head "news" shows.

I admit my own introduction to C-SPAN was due to Chris Farley's Newt Gingrich act. That was what it took to get a 15-year old interested in politics.

I continued to watch on and off for years not really understanding most of what I saw (after all, I only had one semester for civics in my entire public school education). But coming back again and again continued to educate me.

C-SPAN's original programming, along with their other channels like Book TV, provide more in-depth political analyses (that the average person can usually understand), history, and public affairs than any other network (and I'm betting all networks combined). What I like most about C-SPAN is that they turn their cameras on, shut up, and let us think for ourselves.