Truth Seeking

It seems disingenuous that so many liberals cling to RT and other sources distorted by Russian propaganda when there are many liberal homegrown options that don't have the ulterior motive of sowing chaos through disinformation. One might conclude that adopting such a post-truth stance, whereby you can pick a narrative arbitrarily and ignore any evidence to the contrary, betrays an unprincipled intent to destroy the existing economic and political structure in order to replace it with one that is more socialistic. Maybe this expedient to promoting revolution stems from affinity to socialist ideals which Russia tried and then corrupted, as opposed to capitalist ideals which are flawed at inception. The latter motivation is more noble, but there are surely news sources with more integrity that align with socialism.

Much fuss has been made over The List of over 200 websites that turned out to be Russian stooges, but, as much as I hate to banish sites like "Assassination Science" and "Bare Naked Islam" from my reading list, there are still more real news sources to be tapped than I would ever have time for. There are also numerous weekly news magazines that aren't beholden to big corporate interests. Here are some independent sources that publish breaking news and commentary:

• The Real News Network - Baltimore based, left wing news with sights on becoming a TV station
• The Christian Science Monitor - Global, balanced news of significance with humanitarian focus
• Reuters - The largest international multimedia news agency, a division of Thompson-Reuters
• Reuters TV - Video-rich Internet TV reports of Reuters news; app available for mobile devices
• The Nation - Opinionated and aspirational writings by mostly young progressives
• ProPublica - In-depth investigative reporting on topics of significance to U.S. citizens
• The Center for Public Integrity - Investigative reporting within the U.S., mainly on the public sector  
• Reveal (The Center for Investigative Reporting) - San Francisco Bay area investigative news covering stories around the U.S. and internationally. Also produces a podcast.
• AllSides - Reporting from left, right, and center from various sources with the hope of reconciling understanding of clashing views
• FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) - Alternative news organization seeking to reduce the power of mainstream media
• Who, What, Why - Unvarnished forensic journalism. Podcast and blog, too.
• WorldNews (WN) Network - A news junkie's paradise with over 750 sources for multiple perspectives
• Watchdog - Investigative reporting to hold government (states, in particular) more accountable

              Sources cited were obtained from Gemini Fox's Soapboxie post after removing Russian propagandists.

Photo by Joe Clay

As for myself, after running back into the arms of the Washington Post when I learned that I'd been snookered by the Russian fake news machine, I have become more aware of the slanted perspective of our own mainstream news, as well. The Green Party platform aided my awareness of this, noting that:

Our media laws and rules promote the formation of huge media conglomerates while discouraging competing voices. As a result, the mainstream media is increasingly cozy with the economic and political elites whom they should be investigating. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints in the mass media. With U.S. media overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, investigative journalism is in an alarming decline.

With the above list of trustworthy independent news sources, I am looking forward to expanding my perspective of important topics, and having a firmer grasp of ground truth.