Staying informed

Keeping up with the news
requires work, patience

Staying informed requires that we make an effort to find out what's happening every day. That effort can't be limited to watching a single television newscast or breezing through a newspaper or web site. It means spending at least 20 to 30 minutes a day seeking out stories that cover local, state, national and international issues.

When selecting your news sources, be gregarious. Your options for local news will be limited, but don't stick to just the local newspaper or broadcast stations. Find out if there are bloggers or web sites that focus on local news and do more than just reprint what has been posted by traditional media outlets. There may be bloggers that focus on particular neighborhoods or sections of a community with information that may be important to you, but would interest those living in other neighborhoods. You're the audience they're seeking to serve and, odds are, you'll be interested in what they have to say.

As you move to state, national and international news, your options increase. Newspapers and broadcast stations from other parts of the state or nation will often report stories differently depending upon the interests of their local communities. Citizens and news outlets in rural areas may see the state legislature's actions differently than the people who live in the major cities.

If you see an interesting story in a national publication that focuses on an issue in a local community, find the web site for the local newspaper or television stations and see what they have to say. You'll often find more detail and more comprehensive information than the national outlet was able to provide.

Follow the same strategy on international news. There are often English-language media in other countries that provide a local perspective on stories that get only limited coverage in the U.S. Those same outlets may also have reporters in the U.S. who write about events here and you may find that other countries describe events that happen here much differently than American reporters do.

Its also good to become familiar with reporters that cover the news most important to you. That doesn't mean inviting them over for dinner, but it does mean that you should take note of who writes the stories.

You may prefer the city hall reporter for a particular television station over the newspaper's city hall reporter. You may find a particular blogger is the first to get information about your neighborhood and does a better job of writing about it than does the local newspaper. Not all reporters are equal and it is in your best interest to seek out the ones that do the best job of meeting your information needs.

Experienced news consumers also make time each week to look for news stories that don't usually interest them.

If you've selected news sources you trust, you should also trust the editors to present stories to you that are important.

You may not have an interest in the theater, but now and again read about a new play. It may seem intimidating to wade into a story about dark matter in outer space, but if the reporter is also a good writer, you may discover a hidden interest in science.

Lastly, occasionally reading things that don't interest you will make you a more interesting person. The world is a vast and exciting place. The news is one of the few places to which we can turn that exposes us to that variety on a regular basis.