Public trust in the media, including social media, is at an all-time low. Considering the past year filled with fake news and misleading information from “alternative” news sources for everything from the pandemic to the Presidential election, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
According to research shared by the Pew Research Center last year, 72% of U.S. adults say social media companies have too much power and influence in politics today. In addition, about two-thirds of Americans (64%) say social media has a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today.
While being 100% unbiased is a challenging task even for the most dedicated journalists, there are some news sources that have shown themselves to be relatively unbiased and informative. Finding these news outlets may seem hard, but we’ve done some research and rounded up a list of some of the most trusted organizations you can access online for news you can use.
- PBS News: Consistently immune to bias or controversy, PBS News tends to cover both sides of any issues. In addition, when they quote public figures, they generally also provide additional context to provide perspective. PBS News offers a variety of categories including politics, health, economy, world and national news sections to explore.
- Associated Press (AP): Their tagline is “Advancing the power of facts,” and the Associated Press has done well in adhere to that directive. In fact, look closely at the bylines in your own local newspapers and you’ll see that many news organizations rely on AP’s coverage to bring the news to their readers. AP focuses on a non-inflammatory style of presenting, attempting to present even political stories from a neutral.
- Politico: Founded by reporters who left the Washington Post in 2006, Politico has become an influential player in political news coverage in the U.S. that adheres to ethical journalism standards and is easily accessible on the internet and via mobile devices.
- Foreign Affairs: For those who are seeking more in-depth coverage and analysis of news from around the world, Foreign Affairs has been recognized for their unbiased and resourceful coverage of global and domestic affairs since the 70s.
- Snopes: This one isn’t a traditional news outlet, but it is a resource you can refer to if you want to do your own fact-checking or look deeper into possible “fake news.” Consistently used by many industry professionals, Snopes has been answering questions on the internet for more than two decades (since before Google existed) and millions of readers use their service still on a weekly basis.
Who knows what the news will be tomorrow, but with high-speed internet and the desire to stay connected and informed, we can all be ready for anything together.