Where Should Christians Get Their News?

For Christians to be intelligent contributors to our society, we should be looking in the following places:

1. Mainstream News, Domestic and Foreign

If we are to be involved in our mainstream culture in order to influence it and cogently discuss it, we need to be aware of what is going on. Despite any liberal bias, the big news organizations do have extensive resources to be able to bring us some very good reporting. And some noteworthy conservatives work at these "liberal" institutions, and write some very good stuff. Credible sources I am aware of include:

• BBC News (British, liberal?)
• CNN News (American, liberal?)
• The Economist Magazine (British, moderate)
• National Public Radio (American, moderate)
• National Review (American, conservative)
• New York Times (American, liberal)
• The Week Magazine (American, moderate)
• Wired Magazine (American Geek News, moderate to liberal)
• US News and World Report (American, conservative)

2. Alternative, Non-Christian News

To avoid the omissions of the mainstream media, we should look at the publications of advocacy and watchdog groups that bring to our attention worthy items that the mainstream media does not cover. This includes ethnic-oriented groups (e.g. the Anti-Defamation League), human rights groups such as Amnesty Intl, and environmental and animal rights groups.

3. Christian News Sources Last but not least, we should seek news with a Christian world view. There are plenty of these, including

• World Magazine (a Christian "Time")
• First Things (scholarly, Christian/Catholic world view)
• Foreign Affairs (scholarly, conservative)
• Agape Press (nice Xian news blog)
• SmartChristianBlog (nice news aggregator blog)
• Christianity Today (mainstay of evangelical monthlies)

I happen to get my news through the following avenues:

1. NPR

While some people think NPR liberal, I find the commercial-free and in-depth analysis really refreshing. And they're not as liberal as they used to be. Third Party RSS Feed

2. The 700 Club

Some people will scoff at this, but the first 15 minutes of this show is a daily wrap-up of the news from a Christian perspective. No RSS.

3. The Economist Magazine

This British news weekly is packed! And it's not about economics! It makes magazine like Time and Newsweek look like lightweights. It is balanced and has in-depth analysis of American and world news. Sometimes, I don't get time to read it because it is so dense. Third-party RSS Feed

4. The Week Magazine

This compact news weekly is inexpensive and covers world news with a balanced perspective. Minimal online content, though.

5. Wired Magazine

Not only does this magazine of technology and culture have great news articles, each month it has at least one good article on some social issue - the environment, genetically modified foods, stem cell research, etc. RSS Feed

6. Headline News

When I need a half hour to catch up on what's hot, I hit CNN on the TV. RSS Feed

7. Christianity Today Magazine

Nice Christian view of what is important, and how evangelicals view world events. Too bad their online blog doesn't have an RSS feed! BLINO - BLog In Name Only.

8. Agape Press

This blog really has a nice stream of news from a Christian perspective. RSS Feed What are your favorite news sources?

Comments

[Aaron]

I never thought I would see NPR and the 700 Club together on anyone's list of anything!

Most conservatives (with cable/dish) get their news from FOX News. I don't have either and I don't get home in time to watch the evening news (not that I would if I could).

I tend to get most of my news from blogs, online news services, etc. I go to a variety of blogs with different slants, that way I know what I am getting.

[seeker]

NPR has an unfair reputation among conservatives. To their own hurt, they miss a lot of great reporting on npr.

I don't watch fox news because its coverage is so overtly biased as to be annoying, kind of like Bill O'Reilly. I'm sure some of it is fine, but I don't care for it much. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to be the conservative equivalent of Dan Rather's reporting. Certainly not balanced.

[LotharBot]

I don't think Christians should get their news from any different sources than others... EVERYONE should get their news from a variety of sources.

Now, I would say *any* TV or newspaper source is inferior. The websites belonging to TV or newspaper sources are typically better (cnn.com, for example) because, in the case of TV, they go into significantly more detail online, and in the case of newspaper, you can often get the news several hours earlier.

My main sources of news are:

1) cnn.com for world events, US news, etc

2) espn.com for sports news

3) LGF, Iraq The Model, A Star from Mosul, and various other middle-eastern Arab or Jewish blogs for coverage of relevant issues

4) Stones Cry Out and other Christian blogs for religious news

5) descentbb.net -- a discussion forum originally dedicated to a video game. It drew a reasonable cross-section of society (political and religious.) The game has died out, but the relationships we've forged allow us to discuss the relevant issues of our time. It serves as something of a "news aggregator"...