One guy has called the free press "the enemy of the state" and the only information that can be trusted is what he tells you. Have you ever asked yourself, who benefits from this? It’s certainly not you.
And while the press does suffer from some problems (which is a whole other conversation I don’t have time for this morning) for the most part they are doing their jobs. Yes, there are more opinion pieces out there than there used to be, but here’s a good tip. If you’re reading something that makes you feel strong emotions-it’s most likely not news, and just an opinion. Read as much information from a variety of sources and make up your own mind.
And social media is entirely the worse place to get information. Not only has it been weaponized by bad actors, but the very nature of the algorithms behind them, is to keep you engaged. Studies have shown the top ways to achieve this is through anger and fear. That means the more extreme stories are what keep people on their platforms. So you do the math.