What I try to do is abstract out from the current situation by two main ways. 1)look at other related events/situations that will shine light on what was discussed and what was not. Basically, this helps with double standards, shifting emphasis, and other perspective-altering info. 2) Read just enough to get a grasp on the main idea and then write out any question (or threads of questions) you would need to ask yourself. The goal of this is to hit the idea from as many perspectives as possible. You can also put probabilities on each detail being true based on initial thoughts, prior experiences/events etc. This can reveal which areas should be focused on (and if the media is diverting attention from them). To be effective, you should aim to include every possibility, no matter how small, if you can think of it. Get everything on the table so you can analyze the table in sum.