November 30th, 2022
Q: Are you following the news, or are you following the trends?
I ask because one can be a total waste of time, while the other can help you better understand what's really happening in the world, plus predict the future.
Today's email will explain the following:
- Better "understand" stories / why and how they are being reported.
- Learn actionable steps to becoming a more active news reader.
- Spot potential pitfalls from bad information.
- Get 5 "hidden gem" tools for archiving content.
💡 Problem
Americans spend too much time following stories as they unravel. Though there are some major "move the needle" developments that ought to be studied (i.e. Midterm elections, Kyle Rittenhouse, the "drag" phenomenon), the majority of reports are just noise. Often meant to distract the public from the real going-ons.
🔥 Our Take
To better understand our developing world, Americans need to get better at identifying trends. To do this, they need a system for how they read and make sense of information. They must be active news junkies, not passive ones.
📰 Case study
China’s potential leader for life, Xi Jinping, is facing a wave of public anger over his “zero-COVID” strategy. More specifically, there are protests breaking out across the country after at least 10 were killed in an apartment fire. People could not escape because the CCP welded all exits shut "due to Covid."
🎯 Actions
- Go past the headlines and read some articles in their entirety from different outlets. I personally use this 2-step system to make sure I'm reading content from left leaning sources AND right leaning ones. Keep reading until you are no longer finding new information (max 10 min).
- Write down any questions that come to mind, then research them on your own to find less authoritative sources talking about the same topic. For example, why is Jinping being regarded as a potential leader for life? Answering these questions will help you better understand the context of these protests and why the CCP is so against them (max 10 min).
- Go through all of your social media accounts. Which ones are giving you a better insight into what's going on in China? To save time, I recommend going through socials in the same order every day. For me, I go Twitter, Gab, Telegram, Reddit, Minds, Hive, and then Instagram. Ask yourself, why is China flooding Twitter with "porn bots" to block the spread of information?
🚧 Warnings
- As you will quickly see, some platforms and outlets are saying more than others. Some will even refuse to cover a story at all. Why is that?
- Be wary of who on social media is saying what. Even some of my favorite Twitter accounts will be flat out wrong from time to time. Do your homework to avoid working off bad information.
💎 Hidden Gems
- Switch Twitter to chronological order to see most recent content.
- Follow through on your hunches and see if others are experiencing similar things. For example, I had a hunch Twitter was spreading Democrat propaganda following the Oz / Fetterman debate. Turns out other users on Reddit were having the same experience.
- Create feeds and lists to better enhance your research process.
- Have a folder, pocket, or other tool to save important findings to so you never have trouble finding information again.
- Develop a personalized system for bookmarking, saving "read later" content, and processing emails that works with all websites you use.
🔑 Takeaway
Level up by becoming a move active news reader. Train yourself to look for trends and you will become smarter from your efforts. Aim to understand what is and isn't getting reported. Ask questions so that you can be more equipped to how the world and media will respond / form a narrative in the coming months and years. Lastly, work to create a system that only takes 30 minutes per day.
Hope you enjoyed. If so, please consider sharing this email with 2 friends. And don't forget to follow The Hungry Beaver on Telegram!
Talk soon,
-Beavs
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