I always love reading the BBC News because they provide additional analysis and education about complicated issues such as sub-prime lending. Here's an example of something I learned this week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7073131.stm.
The analysis I've seen about the U.S. housing market has been really interesting, because I was first wondering why there was such a ripple effect worldwide. After reading the BBC article, I realized that a lot of European banks were buying up these risky mortgage bonds, and that explains the chain reaction.
This brings up a really interesting contrast between U.S. television news and British or French television news (those are the only ones I personally know about--I'm sure there are other great newscasts in other countries). It's really shocking to see how sensationalized U.S. news is, and how it really encourages short attention spans with its scrolling tickers and seizure-inducing graphics and animations.
I have a hard time watching TV news in the U.S., primarily because I don't think they're even saying anything of substance when they're speaking. It's as if they are in a holding pattern on one thought, in hopes of catching a channel surfer who stumbles upon a big graphic like, "Coldest State, Hottest Governor" or something like that.
Perhaps the only exception is the McNeill-Lehrer News Hour on PBS, but I haven't watched that in years. I was only reminded this week about it by a colleague, and I was surprised to hear that it was still on the air. I shared the BBC article with him and he found it very useful and informative as well.
I get most of my news from the Internet, which really lets me think about what I'm reading and take it in gradually, with links to analysis about points I'm not entirely clear about. If you're looking for great feeds to subscribe to, here are some RSS links:
http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_world_edition/front_page/rss.xml
http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/HomePage.xml
http://feeds.feedburner.com/realclearpolitics/MXfY
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/feeds/rss/topstories.xml
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rss/vote2008/rss_obama.php
If you need recommendations on RSS viewers, I use iGoogle (on my Mac at home) and Windows Live (on my PC at work). They're both free to use after you sign up for an account.
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