Good News Everyone! Finding Reliable News Part 1
“The Post, which did not name any of the sites, does not itself vouch for the validity of PropOrNot’s findings regarding any individual media outlet, nor did the article purport to do so.” The Washington Post on the importance of checking its primary sources when calling people agents of the Kremlin.
As the previous quote may have made abundantly clear the problem with fake news isn’t isolated to small conspiracy websites, insanity is nearly omnipresent. Instead of the originally planned multi-part series of articles examining the train wreck in Syria I figured I’d mix it up and put together a list of great people/places to get your news from. It’s almost the new year, so why not start the it off with some good information. 2017 looks like it’s going to be a doozy, so we’ll need all the help we can get.
Yves Smith: Naked Capitalism
Naked Capitalism may be the single best website for understanding what’s going on with finance, and it sprinkles in solid articles about foreign affairs and politics to boot. You can typically count on around 3-4 articles a day and they’re almost all of exceedingly high quality. About half the articles are republished (with permission) from other excellent sources, but they almost always come with a helpful aside from the lady in charge. I encourage you to check out the sources Yves links, more often than not they’re great.
Yves was one of the first people to jump on the abuse private equities groups dished out to vulnerable pensioners, she broke the news on the California Pension system being taken for a ride, she has consistently been ahead of the curve on any serious banking problems, and she has a solid grasp of the extent and scope of corruption in both the political and financial system (treating them as distinct entities may be wrong at this point). If you want your news from a strong independent woman with a nose for the truth and a love of goofy animal pics Yves is your lady.
Mark Blyth: Professor of political economy at Brown and owner of too many accolades to fit on one lin
Mark Blyth predicted Brexit, predicted the Trump win, has predicted the economic game in Europe with uncanny accuracy, and he did it all without losing a sense of humor. Most of what you can find from him for free is on youtube. I don’t think I’ve found anything from him that takes less then a half an hour so I understand it can be a bit of an investment. That being said, it’s all worth it, and it’s consistently entertaining.
His book, Austerity:The History of a Dangerous Idea is absolutely superb and to my estimation a must read for anyone who gives a damn about economics and/or the welfare state.
Special mention to this discussion of the 2016 election between Blyth and a fellow professor at Brown which may feature the best drop the mic moment of any political anything. The general shape of the interview is that each person gives their view on how 2016 happened. Professor Schiller echoes the popular narrative till about 13:00 minutes in. When Blyth takes the mic, magic happens. If you’ve ever wanted to cut from a political discussion to Super Hot Fire reaction shots, this is the video.
Glen Greenwald: The Intercept
To the extent that any living journalist is a household name, Greenwald is such a journalist. He blew up by getting the scoop on the NSA and British surveillance programs, he’s a constitutional lawyer (one who doesn’t advocate for suspending habeas corpus), best selling author, and is perfectly happy to disagree with the powers that be even at his own risk.
Lately Greenwald and his news source has been under fire during Red Scare: 2016 edition, and it’s a shame this is the case. There’s a lot of crappy news out there and Democratic party has gone after any critical source with the commie cudgel regardless of its veracity and utility. Don’t believe the hype, this man is on the hit list specifically because he fact checks. Greenwald provides outstandingly accurate and sober analysis, and unlike the previous two sources there’s little risk of being inaccessible.
Matt Taibbi: Mostly Rolling Stone
Matt Taibbi is the man responsible for the line about Goldman being a, “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” He’s not only a razor wit, but he is absolutely on point about the nature of corruption in Washington. This man doesn’t care about partisan politics and is perfectly willing to go up against either party.
On top of a consistently excellent track record as a reporter Taibbi has authored six books, largely about corruption and the damage insider politics has done to the average citizen. He’s exactly the sort of reporter people complain there aren’t more of today.
I think I’ll retire for the day, the puddle of saliva has grown too large even for my comfort. That being said, happy Festivus everyone and my the new year be less horrifying than many of us anticipate. Hot stock tip for the day, hold off on mixed eggnog and whiskey asset purchases till after the holidays. It’s a cyclical asset and prices will bust in January, buy then to celebrate breaking your news resolution to drink less.
Expect a post Christmas article about the BBC, in this post I will examine a long and well established history of deceptive and and neglectful reporting.
Image from Futurama: Written by Matt Groening, Executive producers:Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Ken Keeler. Originally made for FOX network 1999-2003