![pexels-photo-693268.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcvpcnBhSTjhN5Xr9k1paQshLErfKc8QEFNvSub2ekxxz/pexels-photo-693268.jpeg)
###### [Image source](https://www.pexels.com/photo/toaster-bread-scrambled-eggs-grilled-tomato-and-sausage-693268/)
---

<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/389814555&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true"></iframe>

---
*“Hey man, did you hear of XYZ?”*

*“Did you see that thing about XYZ?”*

*“There was a XYZ near ABC last night.”*

My answer - *I don’t know, never heard of it.*

It often ends with them sending me a link to my Whatsapp or Messenger or Slack about the news they heard.

Sometimes I read it, sometimes I don’t.

At first, it was difficult to admit I was ignorant to the news of the day, but I found it to be a gift rather than a curse.

# The 8 o’clock ritual

Growing up, my family had a ritual to sit and watch the 8pm news on NTV7 to “keep ourselves updated.”

The segments were standard - something the government did, civilians dying in accidents, some business highlights, celebrity gossip, and sports wins.

Ever since I left for university, there was no TV in the apartment I stayed so naturally - I didn't bother.

Most of the important news like registering for the GE13 election eventually made its rounds to me.

**Sooner or later, the real newsworthy & actionable stuff will find their way to you, via friends and family.**

# My problem with the general news

Tune into your local radio stations and you will notice the difference in what they play:

Lite.fm caters more to the 50 yr olds. More oldies are played.
Hitz.fm caters to the younger folks - the latest hits from the Billboard Hot 100.
Mix.fm tries to do a hybrid. (Was never a fan, btw)

News segments like the 8pm news don’t follow this segmentation.

I do not care about Roger Federer winning whatever cup he won nor do I care Prince Harry is finally getting married.

One-size-fits-all news doesn’t exactly serve the viewer.

Also, what can I do with this news anyway?

Talk about it?

**If it doesn't concern me and I can't do anything about it, I rather focus on the things that I can influence.**

# Being fed news by Facebook

![d1jcYH4.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcyZCvAXHvErjbfcaDRSbJzU7Qu8pkNfYysTubfU72ADF/d1jcYH4.jpg)
###### [Image source](https://www.reddit.com/r/im14andthisisdeep/comments/3rfd5k/dae_facebook_likes_ego_trip/)
---

Moving away from the TV, I figured my Facebook feed would be my news source.

Bad mistake.

Fast forward 2 years, I deleted the Facebook app off my phone and installed [News Feed Eradicator](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg?hl=en) on my Chrome browser.

Why?

Most of the news / info shared was garbage.

ThoughtCatalog’s endless stream of 22-year-olds spouting life and love advice and Buzzfeed’s fascination with trivia and "22 Ways to Know You Are a Horse."

The look-at-how-great-my-life-is photos creating more anxiety among teenagers than SPM results day.

Not to mention the occasional extremist political views of my friends who either love or hate the government (never neutral).

Looking at this melting pot of bad vibes and I'm not surprised I opted out to be “fed” news (new feed, get it?) by Facebook.

 # So where do I consume information now to keep myself informed?

## 1. Twitter

I can’t think of a more curated feed than the one you create with Twitter. Follow the leaders of industry and the people you deem very smart - for me, it's [Chamath Palihapitiya](https://twitter.com/chamath), [Naval Ravikant](https://twitter.com/naval) and [Sam Altman](https://twitter.com/sama).

## 2. YouTube

Once again, I subscribe to 10+ YouTube channels that revolve around my interests
Mostly entrepreneurship, online business, personal growth, digital marketing, film analysis.

# What newsletters do you subscribe to?

Nobody likes infomarketers jamming product launch sequences down their throats. That's why I subscribe to - 

## 3. [The Hustle](https://thehustle.co/daily)

The entire media company works around email and it caters to millennials interested in tech.

## 4. [Sean Blanda’s The Discourse](https://tinyletter.com/blanda)

He is a journalist with a strong viewpoint on the state of media. And his emails are a great primer on how best to view the media landscape.

# What blogs do you follow?

If I could turn everyone I know to just one blog, it would be - 

## 5. Farnam Street Blog

Not a news source. Inspired by Warren Buffett’s business partner, Charlie Munger (aka the smartest guy Bill Gates said he ever met), this blog is one of the smartest blogs you will ever read.

A huge advocate for learning how to learn, how to think and solve problems.

Fortune 500 CEOs and Super Bowl winning coaches are fans of this blog.

Here are some to get you started:

https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/

https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/06/habits-vs-goals/

https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/07/filter-bubbles/

# What do you think about Medium?

I love Medium. The best online product I ever used for publishing is Medium. WordPress looked too ugly and Medium made all the right design choices to make it beautiful.

But…

Medium is starting to look like a hotspot of mental masturbation / self-help porn.

*“Use This One / Two / Three Hack(s) Make Yourself Uber Successful”*

Most of it sounds like that.

Don’t get me wrong - it's much better than the trash peddled out there, but it gets old very quickly.

Most of us deep into our personal development journey start off learning and getting inspired by articles such as these, but once you notice your reading material repeats itself over and over again - it's time to take action.

The writers I follow are:

- [Benjamin Hardy](https://medium.com/@benjaminhardy) (the king of Medium)
- [Zat Rana](https://medium.com/@ztrana)
- [Srinivas Rao](https://medium.com/@skooloflife)
- [Darius Foroux](https://medium.com/@dariusforoux)
- [Ryan Holiday](https://medium.com/@RyanHoliday)
- [Jason Fried](https://medium.com/@jasonfried)

# What about newspapers or weekly magazines?

I think most general newspapers are poison as their incentives are to publish daily stories aimed selling ads.

I say its poison because it's almost impossible to write and edit something thoughtful every day. And some reports have shown that staff writers are told to come up with up to 10 articles a day! Imagine the quality on that.

The better alternative is to read weekly publications. That way, most of the noise of the week that didn't prove to be important will fade away leaving only the signals.

I would subscribe to The Economist (world news) and Bloomberg (for business).

# Where do books play a part in all of this?

If you can, read more books than articles. With online publishing getting easier and faster to publish, any 22-year-old with no life experience can pass off as an expert if they read just a book more than you.

Most of humanity's wisdom is found in books.

Where possible, opt for books that are 20 years and older. It's a testament to the book that whatever it was trying to teach / entertain is still in demand / used two decades later.

---

**I'd argue that your information diet is more important than your food diet.**

What you read and know about health determines what you are most likely to eat.

Only when you surround yourself with knowledge that's beneficial to your goals and well being, would you actually be able to achieve them faster and more effectively.

Feed the brain right and your body will follow.

**Question of the day:** What’s your media diet?