How Have Your News Habits Changed?

A Saturday Prompt

(Image by Sean Caldwell via Getty Images)

There used to be a thing called Twitter, a social media platform where journalists hung out, you could find breaking news quickly and actual discourse was possible. That was before Elon Musk bought it and turned it into an abusive hellscape in which any kind word, innocent question, basic fact or anti-Trump thought is used as a punching bag for hateful attack. I stopped using what was renamed X because I decided my mental health was more important than fighting with Nazis and other haters. Since then, I’ve found Bluesky and Substack Notes to be welcoming alternatives.

The Washington Post has long held a place of honor in my thinking—and not just because of its important investigation of Watergate. I counted on its news coverage as a reliable source of information and usually found value in its opinion columns. I took pride in having contributed to its “Outlook” section, particularly having the opportunity to share my thoughts on Chief Justice John Roberts and his plea for civility during the Senate’s 2020 impeachment trial of Donald Trump. (Roberts’ call for civility, I wrote, “failed to take into account the backdrop: a deeply partisan and increasingly authoritarian political dynamic that has catapulted the country into a moment of crisis. In this context…civility is dangerous.” It still is.) But all this was before owner Jeff Bezos decided to capitulate to Trump, soften its rhetoric, turn the opinion sections away from confronting the truth without fear or favor—and persuade me to stem my reading there beyond essential news stories.

It’s not just the Post, of course. I am reading The New York Times with greater skepticism as it has often failed to say that lies are lies and too often has relied on the traditional frames of political analysis which dangerously minimize the advancing authoritarianism of Trump and his operatives—thereby hastening a benumbed public’s toleration of the assaults on our democratic system. I still rely on its news coverage for factual information, but make a point of reading the intrinsic point of view with greater care. It’s an approach that I now bring with greater intensity to most everything I read or watch from legacy media operations.

I have also decreased my watching of cable news, not only because I often question the axing of strong independent voices and the way some of the shows frame their stories, but because the repetitive coverage can demoralize me rather than provide new information to energize me. I will check what the various channels are covering—and how—but not dwell there too long.

With the likely announcement on Monday that CBS News’ editor-in-chief role is being taken by Bari Weiss—an opinion writer who publishes the center-right The Free Press on Substack and has no news reporting or broadcast TV credentials—I worry that the storied network of legendary newsman and anchor Walter Cronkite will become increasingly unreliable and partisan. We already had reason to question its coverage after its owners kowtowed to Trump and handed him $16 million over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The reported purchase of The Free Press for $150 million and the ascendancy of Weiss, who has worked aggressively to attack so-called “woke” culture and politics, follows the takeover of CBS by its new owner, Paramount Skydance, and led by Paramount CEO David Ellison.

In this shifting media ecosystem, which is often failing in its duty to confront the danger of Trump—thus facilitating the regime’s hostile assault on our democratic systems and values—independent publications and the media voices who thrive on them have become essential. They give us reliable insights, help us make sense of things, find community—and provide fearless confrontation of the often-painful and maddening truth of these times. I hope America, America offers that for you. I also read and listen to other sources and thoughtful voices on Substack, including, of course, Heather Cox Richardson, as well as ideas and opinions at The Atlantic and The New Republic and news from such outlets as The Guardian, ProPublica and the BBC.

This is inevitably an incomplete list, so I’m curious to hear other examples from this community. What about you? How have your news habits changed? Have they changed particularly since Trump came back into office in January? Are there sources and voices that you once trusted that you have abandoned—and others that you now embrace that you didn’t listen to before? Feel free to share both general observations of the changing dynamic and specific examples how your habits have changed.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

Becoming a paid subscriber to America, America—for $50 a year or just $5 a month—helps sustain our work, keeps nearly all the content free for everyone and gives you full access to our dynamic community conversations. It also represents your commitment to fearless and independent journalism. That’s never been more critical.