My dad always had a newspaper in his hand while I was growing up. Every week, he’d skim three dailies and clip news stories and assign them to me. Sometimes it was a chore; but as I got older I was emboldened by new information and perspectives – and my own opinions and understanding of the world began to take shape.
It’s an experience I channel every day at Change Consulting. I believe sharing the right news story, with the right person, at the right time is a love language. You want to feel seen? Let’s talk about your passions, fears — and I’m pretty sure I can find you a headline you’ll run to click. And same as with my dad, the reward is in the recap: a lively discussion, a shared analysis, an exchange of meaning, deeper understanding.
Quite poetic, I must say! Especially in a fractured news landscape (some say hellscape?) disfigured by social media, billionaire vanity projects, and private equity firms stripping newsrooms to the bone. But I’m part of a team of inquisitive learners, and with an intentional approach, I don’t think there’s a better way to stay informed.
How do I do it?
News cycles are famously fast, and reporters are always looking for a hook. So, to make our clients’ work as sticky as possible, it’s critical for me to catch stories while they’re fresh so I can make those connections. The system I use usurps all algorithms. Instead, I rely on a carefully curated mix of newsletters to stay informed – each handpicked for variety, quality, and editorial voice. The best newsletters do more than aggregate headlines; they provide continuity as issues evolve, offer an editorial perspective, and help surface stories that are easy to overlook.
While I am somewhat neurotic about reading almost every headline I collect, I am judicious about the stories I click on, and intentional about what I do with them. I filter by noticing what raises my eyebrows (literally!) and am a hawk for details that inspire or contribute to campaigns in-play.
Depending on what I learn, I make a note of the writer and a question or idea I’m left with, which I often share with colleagues and clients to deepen our work and keep campaigns as relevant as possible to the current news cycle.
Without further ado, here are my recommendations:
A daily overview for activists, everywhere
My broadest and highest recommendation for a sense of what’s going on throughout the country comes through “In the News” by Berkeley Media Studies Group. Each afternoon, they distribute and categorize stories across every major issue area: equity & justice, violence, trauma & prevention, and media & privacy, to name a few. They do a great job spotlighting successful policy and media campaigns, and feature a diverse mix of outlets and story types.
A mashup of state news, human interest stories, and nature highlights
For Californians like myself, the California Sun, produced by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times, is indispensable. The $25 annual fee provides an early morning delivery of news organized by Northern or Southern state news. For folks from other places looking for tailored content from their state, I recommend checking out your local Politico Playbook, Axios, or a corresponding newsroom via Institute for Nonprofit News.
Urban planning – a topic that’s secretly about everything
For news that celebrates good policy, I love Bloomberg CityLab Daily and Next City, which showcase progress and solutions for urban issues like housing, transportation, and health and safety from all levels of government around the world.
What don’t I know, that I don’t know I don’t know?
For a check on my own partisan blindspots, I spend a few dollars a month for Ground News newsletters like “Blindspot Report,” and “Burst Your Bubble” which share both underreported stories across the political spectrum, as well as what’s happening at the extremes of news bias.
Custom made
Finally, DIY newsletters are also a must! I use Google alerts to stay on top of our client’s issue areas, narrative leaders, and popular messaging I want to keep track of. These evolve to reflect my current work load, but for one of my personal interest areas of wealth redistribution, I’m tracking “great wealth transfer,” “inheritors,” and “progressive donors” with daily alerts. [Maybe add how we can do this on muckrack as well].
This approach—deliberate, adaptive, and grounded in values—helps me reclaim a sense of agency in a media environment that can otherwise feel chaotic, overwhelming and at times manipulative.
A truly representative media tells a very different story than stock market trends and political shock and awe. It centers the lived experiences of working people, treats all communities as audiences worth serving—not just subjects to report on—and elevates stories that reflect economic reality rather than elite perception.
By stepping outside the algorithm and seeking out reporting that values depth over virality, I’m reminded that news can still be a public good—one that informs, affirms, and helps build the kind of shared understanding we desperately need.