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Earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, Arab spring and now the American primary season and 2012 elections. How to keep up with it all? According to Pew Research, in 2010, "for the first time ever, more people consume(d) news online than from newspapers." I still like to sit down with my New York Times and a cup of coffee in the morning, but I rarely am able to read every article, or even every section, every day. And since I also subscribe to several blogs and news sites, the printed news is often out-of-date by the time I finish reading it. My kids already get their news on their computers and iPads, through online editions of the Times or other sources. Today we can follow news as it is happening, on websites and through social media, read opinions across the political spectrum and even have a good laugh at satirical sites. (Thanks to Irene E. McDermot, The Searcher, May 2011).
Of course, you can always find current stories and headlines at CNN, MSNBC and The New York Times. Al-Jazeera is not available on U.S. television, but you can follow the latest news on the uprisings and read a different perspective on other stories from the Middle East and around the world on Al Jazeera English. You can also link to a live video feed from their webpage.
I admit that I'm not a big Twitter user, but I have followed my favorite commentators and pundits on Twitter during the Republican debates, President Obama's press conferences, etc. If you're not familiar with Twitter, the Twitter Guide Book has chapters on: Twitter 101-The Basics; Building Your Twitter Community; Twitter for Business; Sharing on Twitter and Managing Your Twitter Stream.
Muck Rack collects tweets that journalists have posted to Twitter. There are several ways to navigate the site: choose the "Beat" you're interested in - world, U.S. politics, business, technology, sports, arts, etc; follow your favorite "Source" - ABC News, Bloomberg News, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Washington Post, etc., or browse "Trending on Muck Rack" - Occupy Wall Street, Steve Jobs, Huntsman, Tebow, etc. You can follow a stream of tweets or follow selected favorites. You can also subscribe to Muck Rack Daily, a digest of journalism on twitter, written by journalists, delivered to your inbox daily. This site is great fun for news junkies. Listorious boasts the "best Twitter people search on the web so you can find anyone by topic, region or profession..." Or you can select from a list of categories from art to sports, media, politics, news, activism, science, travel, etc. Click on a topic and you're linked to a page which displays what's trending, top people tagged in the area, people to follow, terms and more.
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The Lede is a "blog that remixes national and international news stories, adding information gleaned from the Web or gathered through original reporting to supplement articles in the New York Times and provide fresh perspective on events. "Readers are encouraged to take part in the blogging by using the comments threads to suggest links to relevant material elsewhere on the Web or by submitting eyewitness accounts, photographs or video of news events." When there is breaking news, the Lede "turns into a platform for live updates" and real-time coverage. For instance, today (10/11/11) there is an entry on Occupy Wall Street and readers who support the movement or are part of the 99%are encouraged to submit their stories.
For a quick look at what made news on Twitter yesterday, read "Around the World in 18 Tweets," on Storyful, which uses the "power of social networks to create an authentic, cooperative and socially useful journalism." "Using our 'storybuilding tool' you'll have the ability to publish on Storyful.com. By posting your stories to our community pages, we can help you share your stories with friends, spread them on Facebook and Twitter, and reach a global audience." Curators (professional journalists) collect stories, images and videos which they post to Curator's Choice. This is a great choice for news you won't necessarily find on conventional news sites. Two other sites worth a look are The Week Magazine and Global Voices, which "seeks to aggregate, curate and amplify the global conversation online."
If you want a real global view of current events, onlinenewspapers.com, offers thousands of papers from around the world. Most are in their original language (use Google translator); some, especially in Asia and the Middle East are available in English. They also have an impressive online magazine directory which you can browse by category. Another source for online newspapers and magazines is NewsLink. You can search by U.S. newspapers (state, national, dailies, alternative, campus, business, etc.), other continents, or magazines (news, business, computing, entertainment, etc.).
The Newseum, "Washington, D.C.'s most interactive museum," offers 899 first pages from 90 countries, "in their original, unedited form"; browse in A-Z order, by region, or select from a map. When you're in Washington, visit the actual Newseum to enjoy their programs, exhibits and activities.
When reading the actual news gets to be too much, take a break and read The Onion. Follow sports, politics and the news beat from an irreverent, very funny perspective.
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