I am often asked by my readers what sources I trust. And my answer is…
None of them.
That’s not to say there aren’t certain sources to which I frequently turn for information. But there is an important distinction between trusting a source and recognizing a proven track record of honest and accurate reporting on a given topic.
Just because a source provides generally good information and insights about a topic doesn’t relieve you of the need to maintain skepticism and, if necessary, to verify claims.
Moreover, just because a source is generally good on one topic doesn’t mean it’s good on others.
I also recognize that it’s often a practical necessity to take a source’s word for things since it isn’t possible to independently verify every assertion made.
But you can learn which types of statements are reasonable to accept as true or valid and which require maintainence of healthy skepticism.
No matter the topic, a source assessment is always required to separate the wheat from the chaff.
That’s true for any one source as well as for comparing different sources against each other.
Instead of relying too much on a selection of preferred sources, it’s important to get your information from as wide a variety of sources as possible.
Seek out alternative perspectives that challenge your own.
Avoid the trap of selecting sources to follow because their information confirms your own paradigm.
Be cognizant of your own confirmation biases and the limits of your knowledge, and remain open to the possibility that everything you think you know is wrong.
Treat your conclusions and beliefs as hypotheses to be tested against opposing perspectives.
Critically assess each source with consideration for their potential biases.
Maintain healthy skepticism and check key claims against cited sources.
There mere inclusion of footnotes or links in an article can make a story or argument appear well supported, but this is commonly an illusion.
Oftentimes, cited sources fail to support—or directly contradict—claims for which they are cited.
As you consume news media, identify the agenda being served and consider whether any political or financial interests might conflict with the aim truth-telling.
Through that process, you’ll develop a wider overview of the informational landscape and won’t miss the forest for the trees.
Determine common ground by identifying key claims that are uncontested.
Then synthesize conflicting claims to reconcile the contradictions.
Apply your source assessment to determine what seems most credible, and hypothesize an explanation that best fits the available evidence.
Conflicting claims can be often be easily reconciled, for example, by simply recognizing that at least one of the sources is demonstrably lying.
Through this analytical process, you’ll come away with a new working hypothesis to test against new information as you continue to expand your knowledge about the topic.
With an infinite number of topics to focus on and limited time, you’ll also learn to distinguish distracting noise from matters of real importance.
The more you develop these types of analytic skills for news consumerism, the better you’ll get at it and the easier it’ll become, so you’ll eventually be able to rather quickly and easily assess information and draw reasonable conclusions.
The effort you put into developing these skills will pay dividends as you acquire actionable knowledge and avoid becoming deceived by the incessant political propaganda that permeates our information environment.
With my articles, I don’t merely aim to provide you with information but to illuminate my own analytic process: how I go about investigating claims, how I determine what’s credible or not, and why my conclusions follow logically from the verifiable facts.
If you’d like more direct access to me as a guide in the development of your own critical thinking skills, consider supporting my work with a premium membership.
I don’t like the paywall model, so all my articles are accessible with a free membership.
A premium membership comes with additional benefits, including access to the Truth Action Network, a private community self-hosted right here on my own website (not some privacy-invasive and censoring third-party platform).
The community is a safe space for critical thinkers to share information, insights, and perspectives. Through community posts as well as live group video calls, we’ll work together to sharpen analytic skills.
More than that, it’s about turning our acquired knowledge into meaningful action—to do our part both individually and collectively to create a better world for our children and advance toward a truly civilized society.
