Like many of us these days, I get my news from social media. I can’t remember the time I watched a TV news broadcast, except Jon Stewart, Colbert, or increasingly, John Oliver.
I do check out the BBC and ABC web sites most days, but apart from that, news comes from Twitter. People and sites I follow post articles, which I read if they look interesting.
The problem is that, because you tend to follow people who have ideas you agree with, you probably only get news you might be interested in. This is good, because it does save time in zeroing in on interesting stuff. But it’s bad because you start to lose a degree of objectivity. If you are only getting the stories from people you agree with, you lose valuable opportunities to develop your own point of view.
So I try to make a point of following people who don’t hold my point of view. I find that this stimulates my imagination. For example, since I am a bit of a Lefty, one of the people I follow is former Liberal PM Malcolm Fraser (@malcolmfraser12) – to assist with my ‘balance’. However, of late, he’s become astoundingly non-right wing.
Or more accurately, the right has moved so far to the right that he’s now on the left.
So how does one achieve balance? I think the answer is to try to maintain an objective, questioning mind. And for every story that’s presented, to try and find a counter for it.
So to you, the average eight readers of my blog, I present a challenge. Sally McManus – who I do not follow – has created
this list of the Abbott Administration’s achievements since taking office. Can anyone help me counter it?
PS: The most compelling reason not to get your news from social media is that most of the time it makes you angry…
