My 5 Favorite News Sources

    I am not a person who ever reads or watches the news unless I absolutely need to. It isn't ever interesting to me and half the time I either scare myself with the real stuff or spend my time telling myself it is all fake anyway. The sources I often use or happen to see information on the most are TikTok, radio stations, local news channels when I am back at home, The Weather Channel, and lastly, asking friends and family.

    TikTok, being just any social media site, should not be somewhere you go for accurate and true information. Trust me, I don't go seeking out truthful information in this app, yet I find a lot of claims daily. It is one of the apps I am on most, so of course, I will see tons of information displayed across my page. When I do see information on TikTok, I don't often believe it. If it is, however, an interesting claim, then I do further research to examine it. When I come across certain stories or major issues happening all around, they tend to pop up more and more on my For You page. I don't always watch them but sometimes I get drawn in. TikTok is not where I go to get all my information, but it is a good jumping-off point for me when I see a claim that is interesting to me.

    It has been a while, but a main source of information I used quite a bit was listening in on local radio stations. I don't have any type of fancy car so, for a while, I listened to the good, old-fashioned, radio. I was always switching the channels back and forth depending on where I was and what music I was interested in listening to that day. There isn't much news talked about on the radio anymore, yet it was still a source for me to understand what big local events were happening lately such as the local chicken BBQ and tractor shows. Every once in a while I'll listen to the radio, but certainly not as often as I once did.

    Being at High Point, I don't have a TV, let alone cable, to be able to watch the news if I even wanted to. When I am home, especially in the winter when my grandparents stay with my dad, we watch a lot of local news, WNEP 16. As I would get up for school in the mornings, the news channel was always on. I never really paid attention to it until I sat down for breakfast and I would learn all about the latest house fires and a possible kidnapping a few towns over. Or was it just a child custody issue arising? Like I said, I was never a news person. I go with the flow when it comes to that stuff. I only listen to the news channels when I am not allowed to change the channel on the TV or when something huge is happening and I should be listening in. 

    The news I often come upon nearly on a day-to-day basis is The Weather Channel. I have the app on my phone to pay attention to the weather and how to dress accordingly. The Weather Channel app often has news stories regarding huge storms like tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, and even mudslides. I don't watch these videos often, yet if one draws my attention, then I will watch it. These videos are from all around but mostly contained in the United States. When it comes to real news sources, The Weather Channel is my most used source.

The last, and most common source of my news information, is the use of family and friends. Since I don't always go out of my way to look at the news, I often find out information from my family and sometimes friends. When my parents, especially my mom, hear scary news, they instantly come to my sister and me and tell us about it. My mom brings up every topic and will talk your head off, even if her facts aren't completely accurate. My dad sends screenshots of FaceBook posts that claim recent teenager kidnappings and ways to prevent yourself from being human trafficked in a Walmart parking lot. Both my parents keep my sister and me in check with local and nationwide events and my dad just enjoys scaring us both to some sort of panic. 

    My friends and I don't bring up news often unless it is gossip about other girls. We only tend to talk about major events that can eventually affect our lives. A big topic that we have discussed in more recent times is Roe v. Wade being overturned and the more recent discussion of the Willow Project. Topics such as these can get us talking forever making us ask questions about what being an American is truly about. My friends aren't very political people so most conversation end short, however, in other cases such as these, we rant for hours on end.