Media resources for fighting dis/mis/mal/in/formation about Israel

TL:DR: Don't "silo" with outlets that you happen to agree with or ones that flatter your ego.

Way back in November, over at our Life on the Border Facebook group, someone asked what a good source of news in the States about the conflict would be. My expanded reply:

"A broad range of the political and non-political spectrum. Don't "silo" with outlets that you happen to agree with or ones that flatter your ego.

“Unfortunately, far too many Americans are happily and proudly siloed in and wear their news coverage preferences on their sleeves like their fave sports team jackets at the bar on Saturday night. Far too many are lazy and coddled and would prefer to be spoon-fed dumbed-down coverage that - back in the day, sonny boy - wouldn't make the Weekly Reader or Highlights editorial cut; not/sorry for stating a hard truth.

“The media everywhere (NOT just in the States - don't think the BBC accents make them an iota smarter than the average bear) are hyper-polarized and, yes, it's a struggle for even experienced journos to parse news from cant and spin - let alone political clerisies and heresies from the "chattering class."

“Be a thoughtful, discerning news consumer and don't just glance at scare headlines or go down conspiratorial rabbit holes - there really ARE conspiracies, but commonly - not in the place you're expecting, and almost never on, say, YouTube or Reels - let alone the black hole of Tik-Tok...

"Try using news aggregators that aren't linked to Google or Microsoft (which are heavily influenced by algorithms and political slant - in assorted directions).

"One of many, many that I regularly check, is LiveMap:

https://usa.liveuamap.com/, It's not perfect (none of them are), but you can see their sources, and judge the politio/ideological angle they're coming at the item from by their terminology - ie: "resistance" vs "terrorist."

"https://ground.news/timeline/israel-palestine-war is also pretty good, and they are upfront about the sourcing slants.

This is a very brief list, but - who has time? There are a couple other - but if you want to know more - well, you’ll have to do your own homework.

Official statements from across the spectrum - but you'll have to be cautious about the point when, "Who, What, Why, When Where, How," elides into spin-e-ganda - it's not what more average folk are familiar with.

Also, many, many Telegram and WhatsApp channels - but those are mostly in Hebrew and Arabic; that's more granular "heavy lifting," and I wouldn't expect someone not in the news media to put in that kind of effort.

Full disclosure: I worked for The JPost and other Israeli news outlets across the political and ideological spectrum for years in both reporting and editing, including China's Xinhua News Agency and RTHK, Hong Kong (politically polar opposites) and Breitbart (sometimes, literally on the same day), Arutz 7, and as a freelancer for many more worldwide, including several BBC channels, and the States for TV, Radio, Magazines and Print.

In the States I was an NPR bureau chief and reporter for Georgia Public Broadcasting (WJSP, Columbus) and WABE, ATL as a reporter. Many radio breaking news spots for stations and networks, besides.

So, yeah - I know exactly how the news media sausage is made and delivered.

For those who care, my poorly-tended Substack is here:

"An AP-award-winning "ever-recovering" radio reporter, multimedia producer, photo/videographer, and pro beekeeper, Dave is happily settled with his wife and family in Israel for 4 decades. My articles, features, photos, ruminations, and rants follow: https://substack.com/@davebender

My own curated page is here: https://www.davidbrianbender.com/basic-01

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