I really should more actively follow and discuss the news

I have long insisted that we should all strive to evolve as individuals. For various reasons, I have not been following my own advice. This includes problems that I have with the response to change. As one of my many self-evaluations, I have decided to look into what kinds of changes I really should make in my life. Unfortunately, obstacles will likely be too much for me to overcome.

We have a serious informational crisis in this country. Every mainstream media outlet, as well as an overwhelming majority of outlets outside the mainstream, has aligned themselves with one of the two major political parties, usually the Democrats. They misrepresent facts and skew coverage to help their preferred party. In many cases, they push outright lies.

In this country, we have a choice. We can be uninformed, or we can be misinformed. I hate being manipulated, so I have generally embraced being uninformed. This is why I keep complaining about how I have no idea about what's really going on in this world.

I don't completely shun the news. I even have a few tactics I use to try to extract the truth. If both liberal and conservative outlets are saying the same thing, it's probably true. Additionally, news agencies are not likely to lie to make their side look bad. If they share something that makes their party look bad, it's probably true. In many cases, this will be an attempt at spinning facts in hopes that people will instead believe the spin.

I tend to be skeptical of anything coming out of the news. For this reason, I am less vulnerable to misinformation than most Americans. If I paid closer attention to the news, I would probably be able to extract more factual content than most people. Perhaps becoming more active in discussions could help me fill some voids.

I have become very frustrated with how little I know about what's going on in this world. I can't imagine ever being satisfied, but it might be possible to be less in the dark. If I paid closer attention to the news, I might be able to fill in some gaps. This wouldn't lead me to being well informed, but at least I wouldn't feel so clueless.