Online news media

I can't remember the last time I picked up a physical newspaper to read. There is something about having it in your hands and feeling it's presence that is nice, and I do like to do crossword puzzles every so often. However, the variety of perspectives and sources that reading the news online offers has made it my choice for getting information about the world we live in.


Google News rocks because it collects up to date news from a variety of sources in different categories. For each article or subject there will be links to different news outlets so you can get all the sides to the story. It doesn't seem to discriminate or lean towards pointing you to one website or another. I actually haven't figured out why one website gets to the headline link and another doesn't, because I've seen everything from CNN to small unknown websites linked.

Commondreams is a great website that has progressive news articles from different websites all in one place. On any given day you can read articles from big media like the New York Times, USA Today, or the Wall Street Journal, as well as articles from smaller media outlets like The Nation or Mother Jones. There are also articles published only on Commondreams by freelance writers, and sometimes speeches by politicians and intellectuals are published for your reading pleasure. I always look forward to Bill Moyers' articles and speeches as they are always incredibly well thought out and written.

I usually cruise over to Alternet to see what they have to offer. They always have interesting articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment, the war on drugs, and of course the impending Election 2004.

In These Times is one of my favorites, for many reasons. First, it's the only place where Kurt Vonnegut still publishes excellent articles.

Sometimes I surf the links on the left hand column of Commondreams and  pick random sites to see what they have to offer. If I feel like hearing the official, twisted word straight from the devil's mouth, I read the White House Press Briefings.

On occasion I check out Town Hall and Fox News to see what the other side has to say on the matter. It usually ends up making me frustrated.

I also read the local news, even when I'm away from home, to keep tabs on the issues of my home state.