The first step in managing your news and media is being aware of the media you are consuming. Knowing who is creating your news and how it is being distributed gives you control of what you read, hear, and see in the media. Be an active media consumer by:
.gif credit: re-colored, cropped, and compressed from video by John Lund
Not sure how to identify bias in the news? These sites offer analysis of news outlets. Compare the news for yourself by seeing news from the left, right, and center side-by-side.
One way to manage your media intake is to change the order in which you see new posts in your social media. Instead of seeing posts by popularity or other method, you can opt to see posts in chronological order. Or, you can adjust whose posts you see. Below are links to information about changing your settings.
These options change frequently. If the instructions offered below don't work, search the internet using terms like: Facebook and chronological.
The following are based on Mandy Zibart's comprehensive article, "How To Escape Your News Bubble"
This isn’t easy; be forgiving but be brave in cutting things and adding things to your routine.
What you put into your news routine is what you’ll get out of it.
Action(what to do) |
Tools(what to use) |
Benefits(what you might get) |
Personal news audit/inventory - track your news consumption |
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Discover your current news sources to gain a sense of how much diversity you’re bringing into your news routine |
Add new voices and formats to the mix |
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Learn about the people in the city, state, country, and world you live in |
Be attentive and engage but don’t get overwhelmed |
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Modify the sources you already use |
Change Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other social media settings to see news in chronological order. Better yet, stop relying on social media for news. |
Prod familiar platforms to give you the latest information, not the most popular. |