As a busy college student, it’s hard to keep up with your classes, extracurriculars, friends/family, and the news. I don’t know about you, but I often find that I put reading the news on the back burner. However, being informed, and civically engaged, is so unbelievably important, especially now. So, to help both myself and you become more politically informed, I decided to do some research and create a list of 5 easy yet reliable ways to stay updated about what is happening around in the country and the world.
1. Listen to The Daily
This is my personal favorite way to stay informed and about to date about all things politics and news. The Daily, a podcast produced by the New York Times, comes out every day with 20-40 minute episodes about top headlines and what’s going on. It’s perfect to listen to as you go about your day. I often listen while walking between classes, when I’m on a run, while I’m cooking or when I’m cleaning my room. Because it’s a podcast, it’s easy to pop in your headphones and listen to it in the background as you go about your day. It’s entertaining, easy to listen to (offered on Spotify), and most importantly, reliable.
2. Subscribe to The Skimm
The Skimm is a daily newsletter sent directly to your inbox with short and easy to read updates on the news and the most important headlines. In addition to the daily newsletter, they have headings on their website such as “World”, “Money” and “Covid-19” that you can click on to find more articles about that topic. The Skimm also has an app, podcast, and editorial section with more content for you. You can subscribe to their newsletter here.
3. Subscribe to The Morning Brew
Started by two business students from the University of Michigan, Morning Brew is a daily newsletter, much like The Skimm. However, Morning Brew is centered around economics and business. Now, I am not an economics or business person. Quite frankly, I find the topic boring and confusing. Yet, I know that it is still important for me to be informed and up to date, at least a little bit, on the stock market, the American economy, and the global economy. The Morning Brew allows for just that. Subscribe to Morning Brew here. I know I will!
4. Check the News App on your phone
Despite the hours each day I spend aimlessly scrolling through apps on my phone like Instagram, Youtube, and Tik Tok (yes, I caved and downloaded it during quarantine), I often forget about the News app. A quick scroll this app gives you articles of the top news stories of the day from a variety of different sources. You can click on the headlines that stand out to you and find out more. If we are going to spend hours procrastinating on our phones, we might as well learn something from it.
5. Follow politicians and news sources on Twitter
Finally, follow politicians and news sources on Twitter. Of course, in just 140 characters, you cannot learn a lot about an issue but you can learn about what your local representatives are up to. Then, if you want, you can conduct further research on your own. Similarly, tweets from sources like BBC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post typically often include headlines and a link to the article. If one catches your attention or seems particularly important, all you need to do is click on the link. Once again, following accounts like this will add some more value to your scrolling.
Hopefully, these suggestions have been helpful, and that you take advantage of the plethora of resources we have at our fingertips. Being civically engaged and politically active is more important than ever, and I am trying my best to do these things. Hopefully, you are too and, hopefully, these sources make it easier to do so.