One of the most difficult things for me has been to find a number of blogs that I really enjoy reading and find informative. Here’s what I read every single day in order. Please feel free to add comments and recommend other blogs — especially personal blogs, because I have a really tough time finding good ones.
1. Today’s Papers. Slate provides a quick summary of the front page of every major American newspaper. Very convenient for people who don’t want to read the articles but still want to know what’s being covered.
2. Reddit. A social news website that often has a good mix of real news, interesting photos, and things you won’t find anywhere else. I also love it because of the comment section, where people will always call bullshit on the moresensationalist headlines.
3. Passport. The blog for Foreign Policy magazine, which I started reading after my professor gave us a point-counterpoint between Alan Dershowitz and Zbigniew Brzezinski on “The Israel Lobby.” I like them for the same reason; they offer a great mix of covering what the regular news covers as well as interesting features and tidbits that are not covered anywhere else (at least that I read).
4. TIME Middle East. I only just recently started reading this blog, and it’s not updated nearly as frequently as Passport, but it’s the best mainstream news outlet I’ve been able to find that’s specifically for the Middle East. I’m looking for a better replacement to this, though.
5. Daily Kos. I know a lot of people dislike it and think it’s on the fringe, but I think the front page is extremely good and a lot more moderate than infrequent readers probably expect. Markos Moulitsas also makes incredibly good predictions.
6. Haaretz and Al Jazeera. I actually don’t usually read these every day because I prefer to get some opinion along with my news rather than just reading the information (probably not a good sign for someone hoping to go into journalism). The format for both sites (especially Haaretz) kind of sucks. But they’re definitely worth reading occasionally.
7. Pajiba. Subtitled “scathing reviews for bitchy people,” the writing is always incredibly eloquent and is often more enjoyable than many of the films reviewed.
8. Black Iris. Given that I’m planning to study abroad in Jordan next year, I decided it would be good to read the blog of somebody living in Amman. Personal narratives can be a lot more informative than news (and almost always more interesting), plus I like trying to pick out some of the Arabic letters in the cartoons he posts.
9. Go Fug Yourself. Hilarious fashion commentary. I’ll say no more, because if you’re interested, you’ve heard of it, and if you haven’t, you’re probably not.
10. The Pioneer Woman. Part of my ongoing fantasy to move to the West and live on a ranch — even though the woman who writes it actually married into one of the wealthiest ranching families in Oklahoma and it isn’t exactly a typical story, I still love it.
11. I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Everyone should know personal finance. Ramit, whose blog is targeted directly at college students and recent grads, makes it easy to learn and interesting enough that you don’t want to gouge out your eyeballs.
12. SpotHopping. Also a way for me to vicariously live out a fantasy, this one to travel around the entire world. Good writing and tons of beautiful pictures.
