BY JESS LYNK
It can be next to impossible to keep up-to-date with what is going on in the world, let alone what is going on in the Des Moines community.
With over 319 million users on Twitter, according to their 4th quarter 2016 statistics, weeding through users to follow can prove quite difficult.
Here is a guide of ten people I feel are a good starting point to diversifying your Twitter feed. By no means is this a full comprehensive list, but it is a great starting point.
Associated Press
As a non-profit news organization that distributes to papers across the world, the AP is a great first look at what is going on in the world. Since the Associated Press has 193 bureaus throughout the world, they give a broad scope of what is happening not only throughout the country, but across the globe.
Barbara Rodriguez
Rodriguez covers the Iowa legislature for the Associated Press. She always has a full scope of what bills are going through the statehouse at any given time.
Des Moines Register
No matter how you lean politically, the Register is a great source of local news, to figure out what is happening in the Drake community.
Google Trends
This account shows what is popular on Google, but it also is more telling of what larger issues people care about nowadays. The also have awesome graphics, which can beautify your Twitter feed.
Alec MacGillis
MacGillis covers trade, labor, infrastructure and the federal bureaucracy for journalism non-profit ProPublica. ProPublica is dedicated to investigative pieces and government accountability, so any writer for them tends to be dedicated to writing stories about the public good.
Jim VandeHei
The former co-founder and CEO of political journalism powerhouse POLITICO started a new web journalism venture: Axios. He’s a retweet-happy boss who shares some of the day’s best news from the web’s newest in-depth reporting site.
Brandon Wall
The BuzzFeed News lead curation editor – he describes his tweets as “breaking news, internet garbage, politics, social issues, bikes and pups.” His feed is a good mix of humor and news, which is a nice break from what Twitter can be at times.
Jorge Ramos
Immigration and race are huge issues in our country right now, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. Jorge Ramos does a great job at covering these issues and bringing them to light. His feed is a good way to gain insight on these issues, even if you do not agree with his politics.
Joe Scarborough
As one of the hosts of Morning Joe, Scarborough often presents a more conservative view of pressing issues in this country. He also does a thorough job of covering a variety of issues, including President Donald Trump.
Ron Elving
I wouldn’t be able to write a story about news coverage without an NPR reporter. As a senior correspondent at the Washington office, Elving does a good job at giving a broad scope of issues going on in our nation’s capital.
It can be hard to stay up to date on what is happening in this 24-hour news cycle, but mixing up your Twitter feed can be a good first step to getting a big picture of what is happening.
This is increasingly important to being a civically engaged citizen and being a part of your community in a bigger way. It is easy to be ignorant, but being informed gives you the tools to shape your own opinion.
In no way am I endorsing all the opinions (or lack thereof) of these Twitter accounts, but I am saying that is nice to diversify your feed. The more you know, the better.
As always, follow
@TimesDelphic for updates on all things Drake.
