I gave a talk in Worcester, Massachusetts last week, and we had a great Q&A afterward. Several people asked variations of the same question:
How do you know what to believe anymore? How do you stay informed when you can’t trust the media, when AI can fake anything, when everyone has an agenda?
I gave the best and most honest answers I could in the moment, talking about being an “aggressive news consumer,” about being skeptical of everything, about how technology has made it easy for everyone to find media that confirms what they already believe.
“I hope my role wasn’t to come here and reassure everybody we’re in great shape,” I said at one point.
But I also admitted that I wish I had a little more time to think about my answer.
Well, now I have had a little more time—and I’ve thought how I actually do try to figure out what’s true, as a news consumer. So I thought I’d share them:
1. Pay attention to the writer, not just the brand
I don’t always have time to do this, but when I see someone’s byline often enough, I try to figure out their bio.
Where are they coming from, both literally and philosophically?
A New York Times article isn’t just “The New York Times.” It’s a specific person with specific experiences writing it.
2. Look for the source document
If you want to annoy me, write an article about a court filing but don’t include a link to the filing. Even worse, don’t tell me what court it’s in.
Or else, do a TV news story about a video, but only show a tiny bit of the video.
I can’t always track down every source, but when something matters—a speech, a study, a legal filing—I try to find the actual thing, not just someone’s interpretation of it.
3. Ask: Why now?
What’s the hook? Why is this story coming out at 7 a.m. on a Thursday? Or 7 p.m. on a Friday?
Timing is almost never random. Understanding “why now?” can tell you a lot about what you’re actually reading.
4. Follow the money
How does this person or organization get paid?
Is it subscriptions? Advertising? Clicks? Is it a billionaire owner who doesn’t care if this makes money but wants to shape the world’s agenda?
The business model shapes the incentives, which shapes the coverage.
5. Use AI and fast-forward
I use AI for news consumption all the time now. Example:
Canada’s Mark Carney and Donald Trump both gave speeches at Davos this week. I was interested in both, but I don’t have endless hours.
So I watched parts of both on YouTube at 2x speed with captions on. Then I took the transcripts, dropped them into ChatGPT, and asked for 2,000-word summaries.
Is it less than being there? Sure, but who has time to go to Davos? And, it’s more than I’d get from a news article that cherry-picks three quotes.
6. Pay attention to who controls the algorithms
When you’re scrolling any platform, you’re not seeing “the news.”
You’re seeing what an algorithm decided you should see—either by controlling your feed, or by getting everyone who thinks they’re writing and reporting independently all chasing the same things.
Someone always controls that algorithm. Case in point: Elon Musk, whose $44 billion purchase of Twitter seems like an absolute bargain, since he controls the algorithm behind a very influential agenda-setting arena.
7. Think about what’s left out
What do you know is happening from personal experience that isn’t being reported? And I mean really isn’t being reported—not that your biases tell you probably isn’t being reported.
An example here: Some people like to claim that Nick Shirley “broke” the Minneapolis daycare story with his video last month. But that story had been reported extensively in the Star Tribune, the New York Times, and other outlets long before he showed up with a camera.
The hard truth
I don’t do all of these things all the time. Nobody can. But when something matters—when I actually need to understand what’s happening rather than just have an opinion about it—I try.
There was a time when people could passively consider themselves well-informed. You could read the WSJ and the NYT and a few others cover to cover, and watch the evening news, and consider yourself done.
I don’t think that works anymore.
The only real solution is to be more active, aggressive, and skeptical—and more willing to do some of the work yourself.
I wish I had a better answer. But at least it’s an answer.
Other things worth knowing …
President Trump announced Wednesday that he was canceling his planned tariff on U.S. allies in Europe over US control of Greenland after he and the leader of NATO agreed to a ‘framework of a future deal’ on Arctic security. The framework reportedly includes the principle of respecting Denmark’s sovereignty over the island. (PBS Newshour, Axios)
All the U.S. allies Trump insulted in his Davos speech. (Axios)
ICE agents are being told by their agency that they can forcibly enter homes of people without a warrant signed by a judge, according to an internal ICE memo revealed by whistleblowers who said: “Training new recruits, many of whom have zero prior law enforcement training or experience, to seemingly disregard the Fourth Amendment, should be of grave concern to everyone.” (NBC News)
O’Hare International Airport has reclaimed the title of the nation’s busiest airport, surpassing Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which has held the top spot since 2020, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced on Tuesday. Data from the Federal Aviation Administration showed 857,392 planes took off or landed at O’Hare last year, an increase of 10.5% compared to 2024. (CBS News)
A new storm is set to emerge this weekend that could coat roads, trees and power lines with devastating ice across a wide expanse of the South. The storm is shaping up to be a “widespread potentially catastrophic event from Texas to the Carolinas,” said Ryan Maue, a former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “I don’t know how people are going to deal with it,” he said. (AP)
If Leonardo DiCaprio’s Catch Me If You Can ever needed a sequel, prosecutors say real life may have already written one. A Canadian man, Dallas Pokornik, is accused of masquerading as both a pilot and a flight attendant, allegedly raking in hundreds of free flights over four years, US authorities said. Prosecutors allege the 33-year-old Toronto native created a fake employee identification card to receive free flights on US airlines - and at one point even asked to sit in the cockpit. (BBC)
Taylor Swift was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, making history as the youngest woman to ever do it. She’ll be officially inducted at the Songwriters Hall of Fame gala on June 11, joining a loaded 2026 class that includes Walter Afanasieff, Terry Britten, Graham Lyle, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS, Kenny Loggins, Alanis Morissette, and Tricky Stewart. (TMZ)
Thanks for reading. Photo by Filip Mishevski on Unsplash. See you in the comments.
I would add "1a. Make sure the writer is really a writer." Across the spectrum, we keep seeing the same tells that an article was generated by AI. The em dashes. The "Not X, but Y" statements. The arrows in place of bullets. The clever(-ish) headings. The staccato rhythms of the paragraph structures like the ones I just wrote on purpose to make this point.
I posted a 7,300-word guide on my LinkedIn page the other day that I created initially with AI, simply because I've spent my adult life in a field that doesn't excite me (a lament for another time). By the time I was done reality checking and smoothing out the composition structure to approximate my actual voice, I realized I could've just done the bloody thing myself and finished in half the time. I doubt, though, that journalists who are turning to AI to free up their afternoons to scroll social media feeds are taking the time to make those revisions, leaving us to read one article after another that looks like it came from the same author. Irritating at the surface level, but more concerning when we're left to wonder just how accurate the story is.
Hundreds of families in Kansas have one less thing to worry about, thanks to an anonymous philanthropist who donated $15,432 to clear outstanding lunch debts for about 450 students in Winfield Unified School District 465. “This generous gift directly supports our families and ensures that students can focus on learning without the burden of meal debt,” said superintendent Tricia Reiser. “We are incredibly grateful.”