Google News, 'real paper' newspapers

OK, I usually start my day with Google News. Just reading the large media U.S. news sources does not cut it if you want an unbiased view of the world (Google News is unbiased in the sense that it provides a larger statistical sampling of news from around the world).

In the U.S., a few mega corporations own most of the news outlets that people are exposed to. This does have an affect on news coverage. For example, not to pick on General Electric, but: GE owns NBC so it would seem natural for NBC news to selectively de-emphasize news that was not in GE's interests. Nothing sinister, just business...

Both my wife and I are so much into getting our news on the web, that we actually cancelled our 'real paper' newspaper. Now, newspapers are funded by advertising so they are effectively available almost for free (I think that we only paid $2/week: essentially free, except for the guilt when I would haul 50 pounds of newspapers down to our local recyclers).

One U.S. news source that I think is excellent (and I periodically donate money at their web site) is The Christian Science Monitor: broad and fair coverage of the news. I especially like it when they cover a subject in real detail (very much like PBS news does). For example, their research piece on Neoconservatives and their blueprint for US power provides useful information on the people behind the "George Bush throne" - interesting reading for sure.

I am not sure about the name "Christian Science Monitor", since religion does not seem to be particularly covered in their news site.

Also, I found the Who Owns What site to be a good source of information on media ownership.

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