I'm naturally a curious person, and I will not hesitate to fact check anything that comes out of someone's mouth (my teenage sister can probably vouch for how annoying it gets sometimes haha!) But gosh, I'm a print journalism major, and even I can't remember the last time I opened a physical newspaper. Maybe it's just part of getting older or the current social climate, but at one point, I felt like my Facebook feed and Google were no longer cutting it, which is when I made the intentional decision to become more well-informed on what's going on in the world on a daily basis. Thankfully, the digital landscape has made it easier than ever, and today, I want to share with y'all the four tools I've found to be both the most convenient and educational!
1. The Skimm
The Skimm is a free email subscription that delivers the top stories to your inbox every morning. Not only are you receiving a well-curated variety of topics, but the overviews of each story are written in a brief and witty ways that makes them fun to read, too! I'll typically open my email when I'm waiting for my first class of the day to start and spend just five minutes reading through it. The Skimm is probably my favorite out of all of these, and I've been subscribed to it for over a year now!
2. Apple News
Another free resource I like to utilize on my phone is Apple News. Whenever I have a little extra time to kill, I'll scroll through the day's headlines instead of social media. I'll usually click on three articles that really catch my eye and read the full story. This app gives me the chance to handpick stories I'm genuinely interested in, and it curates articles from tons of reputable news outlets!
3. The Newsworthy
Y'all, I finally found a snappy, hard-news podcast I enjoy! For the days I don't have time to sit and read, I listen to The Newsworthy podcast where Erica Mandy talks about the top stories of the day in under 10 minutes. Not only is she easy to listen to, but she also approaches each story in an unbiased manner and leaves out any non-factual commentary. It's a short and sweet podcast that helps keep me in the know as I start my day!
4. CNN Miniseries: The Sixties - The 2000s
Now this one isn't necessarily a tool that can be used on a daily basis, but it is something that I think really helps put today's current events in context. CNN has produced several docuseries focusing on the five most recent decades – the sixties through the 2000s. All of them except The Sixties are on Netflix, and I cannot recommend them enough! For each decade, the episodes cover topics such entertainment, politics, culture and crime. I binge watched all of them over winter break, and I thought they were so entertaining and informative!
As we get older, current events become a conversational topic more and more frequently, so I hope at least one of these will provide you with a basic understanding of what's happening in the world and help you form an educated point-of-view! Let me know if there's any other news resources you love in the comments below!
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