I never look at CNN, MSNBC or FoxNews. I feel sites like reuters.com or apnews.com give me a good level of news without the emotional content.
I agree about local newspapers. We should worry more about what's going on close to us versus Washington.
I agree about local newspapers. We should worry more about what's going on close to us versus Washington.
1) involvement in local politics (say, with a party or with advocacy groups),
2) voting in local politics,
3) involvement in state or national politics,
...
1,000) voting in state or national elections.
You're arguably a better citizen if you ignore everything past your county or metro area entirely but get really involved in the local stuff—internal party activity, commission meetings, GOTV, activism, that kind of thing, maybe even run for office—compared with your average only-votes-every-two-years-at-best-but-reads-the-NYT folks. Caring about Federal politics, unless you get really involved, only makes sense as entertainment or out of some kind of categorical-imperative obligation.
They've done good work at times, but it's still TV.