So an interesting part of working in the public sector is how much our work is affected by the political, economic, and social environment. These days, however, it doesn't seem to simply be a hallmark of solely the public sphere. At any rate, it is typically important to live in a high-information environment. This requires some art, but mostly it requires some reading. So comes the question:
How do you keep up with current events, especially those relevant to your field?
I am a self-admitted news-aholic. I need news from papers, magazines, blogs, wikis, and word of mouth. There can be a problem if one doesn't go about searching through their news systematically though. I must always resolve the questions of what I want to know, what the public wants to know, and how things operate. I will let you all in on some of the sites and functions that I frequent to make my web surfing more productive. For finding news and blogs relevant to my subjects of interest I make sure that I am sent related news and blogs through Google News and Google Blogs. This operates better than simply researching everyday it just gives me a constant line to related content for me. Also, federal legislative items are great through the Open Congress Project. (Although sometimes I find that not enough people are updating, this can be shored up by adding what I from the House calendar). I LOVE NEWSMAP, for more than three years it has been a source telling me what people are reading in internet news. Also it has gotten better this year and improved a lot of functions. Check the newsmap blog if you want to know what they offer. A lot of local legislative news I am able to get through the PLAN email, which is a function of a city deptartment. You have to be registered in order to get email updates but they are generally informative.
Lastly, for all of you out there who have been trying to avoid the truth, use Firefox. It is pretty much my favorite browser for functionality, speed, and customizing. I have tried Opera (don't like it), will try Android one day (maybe), IE is my enemy (forever), Safari is pretty decent (and improving), but I have stuck with Firefox since it was only 1.0.
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I too find myself engulfed in news and political feeds daily. I am interested to check out the sites you recommended. I too like to cross-examine news sites and sources, attempting to find what years ago they called the truth.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you are right on the money with the reference to Firefox. It is absolutely twenty-five million times better than Internet Explorer. Safari is not all that great either, but IE it seems runs like an old DOS system on its last life.
Thanks for the news search tips. I was having this very same discussion the other day. With so many mediums to receive the news and with how quickly information is updated, it is challenging to always remain in the know.
ReplyDeleteI also highly recommend Digg. It is a great way to get what people rate as the top news of the day. It involves straight news, satire, videos, etc.
P.S. I am a Firefox convert as well.
The only reason why I stay away from Digg is that the users don't come off to me as being nearly as random. Newsmap collects and sorts web traffic through Google News. That happens whether someone chooses this or not (newsmap just cares that they click). With Digg someone has to actively choose to "Digg" the article.
ReplyDeleteThe difference is subtle, but it is the difference between what people like enough to recommend and what people like enough to check out.