Short Version: Who do you trust?

Long Version:
There appears to be an increasing cynicism toward various news and media outlets. I hear people say, "Don't trust the liberal media." Some say: "That outlet is too biased to be a good source of news." Question 1: Where do you guys turn to for your (non-gaming) national/international news? I just want to stay informed.

On a tangentially related note, I would love to educate myself and experience the "greats" of film and gaming. Everyone has their own opinion, of course, when it comes to important milestones for both forms of entertainment. This leaves me with a big question mark on where to start. Question 2: If I wanted to look up the "100 Must See Movies" and "100 Must Play Games", is there a good source or place that you would start? The number 100 is arbitrary in my question. It could be any number, really.

I know that a person always needs to educate themselves and form his or her own opinion. That is what I'm trying to do!

(Note: Blame this topic on my lack of sleep if you would like.)

The Sight & Sound Poll is a good place to start.

Roger Ebert described it as I created a thread about the most recent results a while ago, and though I nitpicked about the order (more specifically about Vertigo's #1 position) I have to agree with Ebert on this one: there is no better yardstick for film.


Edit: Oh right, the first question. I dunno, I guess CBC, Wikipedia, The Daily Show… It doesn't really matter as long as you can identify opinions. Watch out for the verb "to be." That's the big red flag. But wherever you pick it up from, it never hurts to cross reference and filter the information.

What catagory does Politifact.com falls into?

For movies: Yeah, the Sight & Sound Poll is the perfect place to start. Also, this site:

http://theyshootpictures.com/

Basically an attempt to determine the 1000 most acclaimed movies of all time. Also features a few other, similar lists, like the 250 most acclaimed movies of the century.

Edit: The 2012 Sight & Sound poll hasn't been taken into account yet.

My favourite critic is Jonathan Rosenbaum, check out his site:

http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/

News in general? Despite being more right than left wing leaning, I don't read the papers (The Telegraph). Simply because I don't like my news politicised. In general I read BBC.co.uk every once in a while to stay up to date with daily stuff, since I feel like it offers the least polarised news. If I find something of interest, I use google and read as many sources as I can. I also read The Economist cover to cover weekly, which pretty much satisfies my curiosity for global affairs and the economy.

As for gaming and movies I don't think that such a list can reasonably be compiled, effectively due to the vast divergence in individual taste. My own taste can be especially difficult to appease, hence I pretty much only listen to recommendations from family members and close friends, but even those are typically off.
News in general? Despite being more right than left wing leaning, I don't read the papers (The Telegraph). Simply because I don't like my news politicised. In general I read BBC.co.uk every once in a while to stay up to date with daily stuff, since I feel like it offers the least polarised news. If I find something of interest, I use google and read as many sources as I can. I also read The Economist cover to cover weekly, which pretty much satisfies my curiosity for global affairs and the economy.

As for gaming and movies I don't think that such a list can reasonably be compiled, effectively due to the vast divergence in individual taste. My own taste can be especially difficult to appease, hence I pretty much only listen to recommendations from family members and close friends, but even those are typically off.

edit:
Oh and by the way, I once stumbled upon this odd site:
http://www.mondomacabrodvd.com/cat5.html
Haven't really read it or watched anything from it yet, but it looks interesting. You see, these kinds of ratings never work for me simply because me and the critics are different people and just because the critics liked it doesn't mean that I will enjoy it. I'm not saying that these movies don't deserve the praise that they receive, I'm saying that I'm just not interested.

I like PBS NewsHour.

Everything else I find myself having to read between the lines, and wonder how they choose what is and is not newsworthy.

edit: I [currently] like PBS NewsHour.

For current event and news I tend to use BBC as my primary source.

I understand, but what makes the site interesting is that it is an attempt to measure the most acclaimed movies of all time, by weighing up the most prestigious lists available. It isn't some guy/group of guys listing their favourite movies. As such it is a great place to start for people like the OP, who is looking for a collection of the greats and milestones of the cinema. If they then find these collections to their taste is another matter.

If someone's looking for recommendations, it of course makes sense to stick to people who have a similar taste, critics or friends or whatever.

And let's face it, these critics have seen infinitely more movies than any of us, of course their opinion carries a certain amount of weight. It's simply a matter of standards.

My first instinct: no one. :-) There's just so much crap out there, it's like talking to the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz" - he suggests one path and points in the opposite direction.

I've never been a fan of "Greatest" or "Best of All Time" movie lists; I go for personal experience. Many movies get panned and I've enjoyed them, and many movies get rave reviews and I think they suck. I read a synopsis and if it sounds good, I rent it. If I don't like it, oh well, nothing's forcing me to watch it all the way through. If I like it, great, but in the long run, so what? :-)

Same goes for books lists, which can be even more elitist and stuffed with self-approbation. I'm highly suspicious of anyone who says "If you haven't read this, you don't know what writing is." No thanks. I don't need someone else telling me if I'm "cultured" enough by what I choose to read.

And in general, I avoid news. Nobody is agenda-free. But that's just my opinion as a cynical 43-year-old. :-)

So maybe I should change my answer and say "Me." I trust myself to decide what's worth my time and what isn't.

Thank you for the responses so far! I appreciate all who take the time to do so. The Sight & Sound Poll does look interesting even if only to learn about older / more obscure movies.

This may sound kinda goofy, but I like the recaps you get from the "game shows" on NPR on Saturday mornings. The humor has a great way of pointing out the absurdities of the issues. That, and they're just friggin' hilarious. "Whad'Ya Know?" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" are some of the best radio out there.

I have to say, it's best not to trust any source. A news aggregator like google news will show you hot topics. From there you can read what you like, but don't trust any source. Make your own decision and realize most "news" contains a lot of bias and/or opinion.

Yeah, this. It's best to read multiple sources on important issues, especially from different viewpoints, so you can kind of triangulate what the actual issue is.

The answer to who do I trust about news, games, and movies is very simple. It is that I trust everyone, but yet I trust no one. I suppose it depends on the topic/situation at hand.

My trust for game reviewers is very thin, but has been developed over the years by reading many different reviews of many different games. It has come to the point where I try to get the viewpoint of only a few individuals within the industry. I truly only trust two individuals within the gaming industry with my must-buy games and that is because I have found that my gaming tastes have most closely resembled theirs and this only through years of reading reviews by them and many others. Those two individuals are Jeremy Perish (of 1UP.com and gamespite.net fame) whom I feel my love of RPGs and game mechanics are shared with and Rob Zacny (of freelance and three moves ahead fame) whom I feel I have shared love of the strategy genre and the mechanics/challenges therein. If one of these two reviews tells me to buy I game, I will, because I have learned over the years that their tastes align with my own.

My trust for movies is merely my own. I have not met anyone that has the same taste in movies myself. Everyone has their own opinion of films and what they like, so I judge these based on my viewings.

My trust for news is that I hardly trust them at all. Or more exactly that I trust and distrust everyone equally. In news especially, everyone has their own bias and agenda and are constantly trying to push them, and as result everyone only tells partial truths. As a professional historian, I have found it is very difficult to get a full, truthful news story from any one outlet. For example, for news on the embassy protests and US ambassador killing I will read CNN's coverage, Foxnews' coverage, BBC's coverage and Al-Jazeera's coverage all while understanding that I may not get the full truth of the situation from these reporters. Trusting any singular news source is very dangerous, and I try to avoid relying upon any singular entity for more than just the basic information.

BBC.co.uk for news since I have found it to be very unbiased.
I don't really use any site for films since I just go see them.
Games? BAH! That's impossible.