• ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works
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    12 days ago

    YouTube is great for some things but it’s terrible for this stuff. Run in the other direction. For whatever reason, lunatics and extremists are wildly over-represented on social media. I think you’re going to have to read if you want to be well-informed.

  • lobut@lemmy.ca
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    12 days ago

    I mean there’s Brian Tyler Cohen, David Pakman, Sam Seder … then there’s Hasan, Vaush and stuff, but you also have the Daily Wire and other alt-right people that I don’t watch. It’s a pretty big range.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I like Bryan and appreciate how he typically has some kind of expert guest to do most of the talking (not that experts can’t be biased and partisan) instead of just ranting on his own.

  • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
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    12 days ago

    I think some of them have a tendency towards hot take angst. They feel pressure to pull spicy opinions out their asses.

    Only one I’ve seen be mostly unaffected by this os Kraut, and that’s mostly because he’s just taken for granted until recently that all his vids were gonna be demonetized and has a day job instead of making his living solely off clicks.

    Well him and Historia Civilis if you wanna split hairs on how much history commentary should be considered political commentary in the same way as punditry, that and HC is by no means shy sharing his opinions on the political matters which do arise in his videos, especially recently, he doesn’t like clocks.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    Same as anything else.

    Like there’s Cody Johnston (some.more news), who was an editor for Cracked decades ago when it was one of the top websites in the world before even Facebook was live.

    He does podcasts, and talks about news and obviously politics with an election coming up.

    And others where they are informed and provide insight to shit that’s happening. Those are fine.

    Then there’s people making entertainment videos and their topic is politics they’re worthless.

    Like science. Neil Degrasi Tyson makes a lot of youtube videos these days, and so does PBS.

    Comparing them to a YouTuber who says airplanes turn the frog gay isn’t really sensical even tho both talk about “science”.

    Usually just looking at the title and thumbnail is enough to tell what kind of video it will be.

  • HaleHirsute@infosec.pub
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    12 days ago

    My favorite is The Bulwark (ex-Republican never-Trumpers), I think they’re great. Also fans of Pod Save America (ex Obama staff). I found a new one I highly recommend called “2Way” from journalist Mark Halperin and it’s a Republican-based but mixed bunch, pretty cool.

    • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      Highly recommend Pod Save America and their spinoffs / associates. The Pod Save guys are ex-Obama staffers, so they know how the sausages are made, but they are by no means full-time DNC cheerleaders. Just lately their conversation seems to in the realm of “Biden is the nominee, but we have a responsibility to have a level-headed conversation about if that is the best idea; every possible choice comes with risks, and we aren’t doing ourselves any favors if we don’t consider them.”

      They make no secret about the fact that they are pushing a progressive agenda, but they also aren’t blowing smoke up your ass about how well we are or aren’t doing, or if democratic figures have made gigantic fuck-ups, which I appreciate.

      • HaleHirsute@infosec.pub
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        11 days ago

        Yeah agreed, if they would have gone into gaslight mode I would have been super disappointed. I still worry they could falter long term.

    • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      What do you find appealing about the Republican perspective from these YTers? Thinking about broadening my news/analysis scope a bit.

      • HaleHirsute@infosec.pub
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        11 days ago

        I like that they are very critical of Trump and the Republican party , but because they are from the world the have insight into its thinking and mechanics. Hearing their insights is illuminating.

  • Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com
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    11 days ago

    I rate both JohntheDuncan and Andrewism highly as not overly wanky Left politics channels.

    (No, you don’t need to pad the video out with 50 minutes of intercut “plot line” where you fight with a mirror world version of you, who’s wrecking havok on the lives of your guest stars who can only be sent back by a tangentially related metaphor to the main topic of the video.)

    • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Lmao excellent summary of youtuber plots. Bonus points if the video starts that way with no way to tell what’s happening if you aren’t a repeat viewer, on a suddenly viral video where ~80% of the audience are first-time viewers.

  • aleph@lemm.ee
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    11 days ago

    Sure there’s a lot of garbage out there, but YouTube and platforms like Substack allow former corporate journalists who want more freedom to do proper investigative stuff. You just have to be discerning with your sources.

    I like Zeteo (Mehdi Hassan, formerly MSNBC), Drop Site News (Jeremy Scahill, formerly TheIntercept) and The Real News Network (Chris Hedges, formerly NYT) the best. Breaking Points also put out some good commentary occasionally.