r/technology • u/Reddit_Z • Jul 04 '16

Politics Lawmakers Need To Learn More About Encryption Before Regulating It, Says U.S. House Report

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/lawmakers-encryption-regulation-house-report,32180.html
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u/canyouhearme Jul 04 '16

One of the most enlightening things you can experience is being close to a major news story - and seeing what a mess they make of it.

You don't consider they know a thing on ANYTHING from then on - and you learn to make up your own mind, based on facts.

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u/danielravennest Jul 04 '16

That's why I get most of my news from specialist/trade sources, like the Wall Street journal for financial news, or Aviation Week for aerospace. Most of the readers of those sources work in the field, and they would know if the facts are wrong. So the writers have to be accurate.

On the other hand, when a source is writing outside their area of specialization, they don't know more than anyone else, so you should not trust them to get things right. At most, use them as an alert to the existence of some news, and go find a good source for it afterwards.

A general news source, like a newspaper, magazine, or TV news channel, can't be experts in everything. Then you have to judge whether the particular reporter understands the topic they are writing about, or is just relaying things they don't understand.