If such things could get government approval, I would be a certified news watcher, thanks to a few dozen years of media experience in another life. That means I gather and pull news and commentary from a wide and disparate list of sources; internet, broadcast, and print media- right to my Mac, iPhone, and iPad (tried to view on the Watch, but screen real estate matters).
For those of us who enjoy the intricacies of Apple’s products, RSS readers are your friend, and I’ve tried most and keep more than a few running everywhere. This week I came across another good one that runs on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and it’s free. It’s called The Anchoring (but once was called Ahoy News). I don’t see the value in the maritime monicker, but what you want is functionality, not a clever name.
The Anchoring takes a slightly different view that you’ll find with typical RSS readers. You’ll need to setup an account, then select a variety of topics and the news is fed to you in a simple, straightforward, curated way from a variety of sources, and you don’t have much control over what arrives.
My current favorite RSS readers for my Apple devices are Reeder and News Explorer, but there are many from which to choose, most have more than basic features, and some are free (you do get what you pay for, though). If you need free and good, try Vienna.
RSS readers or nearly any news reader gives you the option of viewing the news from many sources; bloggers to traditional media, media websites, scientific and cultural information; you name it. It’s there.
That leads me to two points. The first is efficiency. An RSS reader or any decent news reader gathers news and information from many sources and places them into a single app for easier browsing and digestion. Watching TV news does not. Reading the local newspaper does not. My second point is news sources, and, unfortunately, too many people have too few sources of information.
Research has show that those who watch Fox News are less informed about the news than those who don’t watch news at all. That’s an indictment for anyone who wants to know more than what a news outlet wants you to know. Watching only a single network gives you only the news those editors want you to see, and all news outlets are biased toward capturing and holding their audience, not providing a fair and balanced view of what is happening in the world.
An RSS reader or a good news reader can make gathering, browsing, and digesting news and commentary more efficient, and from more sources than you’re likely to find on major cable TV networks or traditional mainstream media. Having a Mac, iPhone, and iPad that can sync sources into a single app makes the whole process easier and more mobile.
Caveat?
Yes. It takes effort and time to setup an RSS reader or news reader and gather news and information from a variety of disparate sources, and far too many people would rather digest what is given to them from the nearest TV news network or bloggers feigning analysis, than seek out and find alternate sources with differing perspectives.