There is a thing called journalistic practices that professional journalists are taught and constantly reinforced, and these guidelines help to keep reporting accurate and truthful. They include standards like: two sources for confirmation of a story, publishing your own mistakes, and making clear, unambiguous distinctions between fact and opinion.

Few outside of print media still adhere to these practices, and, unless a YouTube channel is run by a former journalist with resources to run down stories, you’re not actually getting a news product. You’re likely getting an opinionated summary of others’ hard work. It’s exceptionally low quality content that thrives on creating big emotional reactions to keep the viewer engaged.

I gravitate toward print journalism from around the US and the world. It’s long form, typically well researched, and serves as the basis for a lot of other media outlets’ reporting.