Building an Information Diet
For better or worse, the information you expose yourself to on a day-to-day basis shapes not just how you think but also how you see the world. This has become particularly important in the last few years, with the amount of misinformation and "fake news" now at astronomically high levels. If all you're exposed to are clickbaity headlines on social media, your worldview is likely going to be heavily skewed.
I've personally always made a conscious effort to pick sources that are, to the best possible extent, unbiased and reliable. I strongly believe that most people should rely on high quality, paid journalism as their main source of information. When curating my own information sources, I try to select them in a way that exposes me to a variety of perspectives (right leaning vs. left leaning, local vs. national vs. international) and cover a broad range of topics (business, technology, society, politics, etc.) so I can minimize the chances of locking myself into an echo chamber.
To that end, I wanted to share some of the major outlets that I personally love to read, and my reasoning for them. This list is not set in stone, of course. I periodically add or remove sources depending on the value I get from them. Though not perfect, I wanted to outline why these particular outlets work for me. Hopefully, some of you will find it useful too, and share your own personal consumption habits.
WSJ has quickly become my go-to source for daily news. I was initially drawn to them for their coverage of business and finance related news (which is absolutely top-notch). But I've found their coverage of national and world affairs to be equally good. It is also slightly more right leaning than some of the other names on this list, bringing some important perspective to my news feed.
The Globe is Canada's largest daily newspaper and for good reason. The stories are comprehensive and well-researched. Due to our proximity to the U.S. I find that unless you make a concerted effort to pay attention to local and national affairs, they often fly under the radar. Being the only Canadian name on this list, The Globe helps me keep up with what's happening in our own backyard.
HBR has been a game changer for me personally in terms of how I think about my career. The stories are almost entirely focused on helping you become more effective at your workplace (or maybe those are just the stories I gravitate toward). The topics covered span a broad spectrum, including leadership, organizational management, business, strategy, and more. The advice shared is practical, and usually something you can incorporate into your own work to become more productive.
This one is another excellent source of information for when I'm looking for a more in depth analysis of world affairs. While I think it is still officially billed as a newspaper, I treat The Economist more like a supplement to your news consumption. The weekly cadence allows for more time to dive deeper into issues that otherwise might get skimmed over. The stories also usually have a more global perspective than most other sources here, which is really helpful.
More a literally journal than a news outlet, I love reading The New Yorker for its personal essays and cultural commentary. As an aspiring writer, reading The New Yorker is more about exposing myself to world-class narrative style writing that I hope to emulate. The hilarious cartoons are a welcome bonus.
Similar to The New Yorker, the Atlantic covers a broad range of stories on anything and everything. The quality of writing is excellent and the pieces are thought provoking. In particular, I really like the short periodic "projects" that The Atlantic does on topics like remote work, mental health, etc.
There are plenty of other reputable sources that are not on this list but are nonetheless excellent. NYTimes, NPR, Reuters, Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, etc. are all great sources that I occasionally rely on - some more niche than others. Obviously, the way everyone consumes information can be very different. A lot of folks prefer podcasts over reading, which might skew your personal diet. And sadly, the tradeoff for all this high quality journalism is that you do have to pay for it, usually through a direct subscription. But the benefits of even relying on a few well curated sources should far outweigh the costs.