Out tortoiseshell cat, Millie, was recently diagnosed with what is probably lymphoma. It could possibly be a form of leukemia, but we would need to do a bone marrow test to find out, and the treatment is the same in either case. She gets a smear of prednisone cream in her ear every day, which we will gradually reduce to a maintenance dose every other day in a week or so. She is rallying, and is almost back to her pre-cancer goofy self.
Our children are real cat lovers, and insist I give regular news updates regarding her condition and prognosis. It feels some days as though I am running an official Millie news network. I could call it MNN.
I myself have been consumed with the news of late, and go to my regular news sources. NPR, CNN, Reuters, and MSNBC too frequently for my own mental health. I am alarmed by 45’s plan to start his own news service, which I can’t imagine being at all reasonable or accurate. I doubt I would ever look at it.
What news services do you follow or not follow? What kind of news service would you start if money was no object?
Trail Baboon 
FOX is right out except for an occasional glimpse to see their weeping and gnashing of teeth.
NPR and BBC are up front. And Rachel Maddow.
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My daily routine is to study several news outlets each day, starting with online newspapers while guzzling coffee: NBC online, Washington Post (usually takes close to an hour), Star Tribune, Politico, Vox and MinnPost. Often listen to MPR in the AM. Throughout the day, MSNBC (especially Nicolle Wallace) and CNN on the telly. Evening news is KARE, especially NBC Nightly News. I’ll catch Frontline and Christiane Amanpour when I can. I often end the day with Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell and Brian Williams.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I patch together MPR, some Podcasts which have become increasingly interesting as people learn how to do them, the StarTrib, the Washington Post, and Apple News feed. We do not have cable here, but even when we go to AZ where cable is part of our HOA, we don’t watch cable news. It is just way too much for me. I do see TV screens at the gym without the the sound, which just convinces me that I don’t want to do TV news for most things.
I am just much happier with the radio on and the TV off. It must be the influence of my depression-era grandparents who always listened to the radio. Grandma H only turned on the TV for Lawrence Welk.
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Forgot something: I read Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letter from an American.” She is a history professor in Maine, and she has an interesting perspective.
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I read her every day, Jacque. She is really good.
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I have to read her more often – just ready yesterday’s entry, and she’s right on.
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And she doesn’t just spout opinion. She documents what she says.
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HCR is a wonderful resource, and not just for her daily letters. I’m a huge fan of her history lectures and weekly live sessions of answering questions regarding current affairs. A cool head who explains things from historical perspective.
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I’ve read some of Heather’s posts on FB. Really like her – need to read her more often.
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aren’t those lennon sisters wunerfull?
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Our tv is in the basement, and we never watch it. It is all print or radio for us. I can’t abide tv news in waiting rooms.
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My news service would be international.
A reporter in every country. A multilingual staff of hundreds.
24/7 of events, culture, music.
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I get most of my news online. CNN.com is my biggest go to. I also get more news than I would expect from YA. (For example she was the one who told me that there was going to be an announcement from the governor about gyms and seating in restaurants.)
I do not seek out news very much any longer. Since 2016 I feel like between the fraudulent news and the constant coverage of things that probably don’t need to be magnified, and the feeling that I’m just clickbait, I’m just not sure what to trust at all.
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I stick with NPR/MPR for the most part. Sunday Strib to keep up a little bit on what’s happening in the Cities and the rest of MN. My local paper is a shell of its former self and will fade to strictly an online issue in the next few years. COVID ain’t helping–not much local news to report when everyone’s hunkered down.
I also scan headlines on my Bing homepage every morning. Not that those blips are superior to any other source, but I at least get some international news items I might otherwise not be aware of. My chuckle of the day often happens when the fate of some athlete or actor or reality show celebrity is deemed one of the top 30 news items of that day. Yeah, right. I’m far more concerned about my school district’s constant attempts to pass bonding bills and levies to fund public education, and the city and county government handling our tax dollars. Whether I favor the bond issue or tax increase or not, it has a direct and major impact on my finances.
BBC occasionally while driving at 2-3 pm. But I get easily annoyed by the interviewers who get a bit confrontational (intentionally it seems) with certain guests.
I avoid like the plague the cable networks because most of them, other than perhaps, CNN are far too partisan. But I still feel a strong sense of “Editor bias” with all news outlets. Don’t confuse it with editorial bias. To me, Editor Bias is simply the fact that someone must decide what news stories are most important because of limited time/space. No matter where we get our news, a few select people are deciding what we need to know, which implies they’re telling us how to think, what to think about, and how to feel about what we think about a certain issue. And since the time-honored mantra of “If it bleeds, it leads” has never been more popular, we are constantly deluged with bad news that makes us all feel like worthless pieces of s**t humans because none of us alone can solve any of the world’s major problems. Hell, most of us can barely keep our own lives together. *Ahh, it felt good to rant a little.* 🙂
Now and then I’ll channel surf and watch a few minutes of MSNBC and FOX just to see how they’re spinning the same piece of news. Amazing how the hosts and guests will be discussing the same bit of news that just happened but the slants are so biased that it seems like they’re discussing two different topics.
Chris in Owatonna
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I should do more channel surfing, or the online equivalent. I do check in on my rabid T**** supporter Facebook acquaintance when I think I can stomach it.
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Fridays we watch the PBS News Hour, so we can catch Brooks and Shields. Other than that, I can’t handle watching the news, though I do find myself flipping through the news feed that comes up on Microsoft Edge.
About a year ago my s-i-l introduced us to a (left-leaning) weekly digest called The Week. It has no ads, costs about $2 a week, and covers everything the weekly crises, the US, world – and what I like is they get info on the major stories from multiple sources – both right and left leaning, as if there’s a conversation/argument between various columnists. There’s also science news, technology, a little books, media, and entertainment;
So if I have a week when I don’t hear my usual NPR news, I just wait and sit down with The Week.
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The CBC is pretty good, too.
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Millie tells me that I should try to get luxury cat bed and equipment sponsors for the MNN, and let her try them out.
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The two pillows and three wool blankets stacked on top of the sofa she likes to snooze on just aren’t good enough for her any longer!
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I want to be a cat living at your house! A good gig. I am glad she is doing better now.
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Sounds like the Princess and the Pea.
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Millie also let me know today at lunch that I really needed to share some of the ham from my sandwich, “for her health”.
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Are you working from home at the moment, Renee?
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No, despite our covid surge we are all to be working from the office, but can still see people via telehealth. I see clients in the office due to their young ages. I wear a mask and goggles or a face shield. I only live 10 minutes from home, so I go home for lunch.
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Sammy likes ham. He gets Gerber’s ham & gravy in the little jar, pureed so that he can digest it easily.
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It’s funny that today is about a cat news network. Just last week I had Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn from the library. Three cats (comic strip artwork) bringing the important news of the day. Very funny if you are a cat owner!
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Well, the MNN has contributing reporters from Tacoma (Piper and Percy) along with a South Dakota correspondent in Brookings (Boots).
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Not news related, but pet related, our little dog Allie was diagnosed with ‘Old Dog vestibular Disease’. Basically, vertigo. It was funny and sad at the same time. She’s getting better; not walking in circles outside anymore. And getting some of her spunk back. (And liver and kidney tests are good so hopefully nothing underlying)
She’s a tough girl.
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I like watching and listening to the news programs that have reporters working from home. You can often see and hear their pets in the background. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1133120410398347
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if i could i’d do cbs sunday morning format 24/7
as for daily news on mpr cbs cnn star and trib new york times..
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😄😄
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