The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’s own blog.

January 20, 2025. The sun is shining, but it gives no warmth. The air is frigid, and we’re told that it’s going to be getting much colder. Irrespective of changing seasons, things might be consistently unpleasant for the next 1461 days.

Donald Trump today took the oath of office to become the 47^th president of the United States, standing in the same Capitol Rotunda, where four years ago his supporters violently tried to keep him in power.

His inaugural address was right out of his campaign. His to-do list, especially the list of executive orders he is immediately issuing – many under the contrived premise of a national emergency – are those he made repeatedly during his anti-immigrant, anti-woke, America First campaign. He, and the religious leaders who gave invocations, presented Donald J. Trump as having been delivered by God to lead America forward. There were, unfortunately, no surprises in what he said, though his inaugural speech was better written and delivered with more discipline than his campaign speeches.

Biden, sadly, gave Trump an ignominious parting gift. No, it’s not just the sense that the Joe Biden of today would not have been able to deliver a speech as crisply and forcefully as Trump did. In preemptively pardoning all members of his family in the darkening last seconds of his administration, Biden set a dangerous precedent indicating that no matter how vile Trump’s ethical conflicts, wanton his self-dealing and illegal his family’s misusing the exalted public office for private gain, none of them will likely ever be held to account. There’s no Katy who will bar the door.  Pre-emptive pardons for rented members of Congress, administrators, and judges who make Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas appear to be models of virtue could make implementing some of the most loathsome parts of Project 2025 easier than ever imagined. And it could go downhill from there.

So how does a recovering news junkie, one who has partly hidden out from an excess of news since the November election, cope with this new reality? Can I hide out for the next four years? An old Polish proverb declares, “not my monkey; not my circus.” It refers to protecting oneself from chaotic situations one is powerless to resolve. In today’s context, that could suggest insulating ourselves from scrutinizing the details of the Trump administration and tuning out reporting on the divisive, insensitive, immoral and possibly un-Constitutional moves upon which they have promised to embark. Silence is not an option.

But speaking out must come from gathering hard facts, gleaning well-informed opinions, and developing effective communications. It should not come from mindless bubble blabbing, retweeting misinformation, or falling for algorithm-driven disinformation. Many of the once-respected sources of news we’ve used as defaults for generations are shadows of their former selves and clearly in the last election failed to reach, inform or enlighten voters who decide elections. More recently, the LA Times and Washington Post have besmirched their reputations, but other pillars of the mainstream media, from the NY Times, Boston Globe, network news to cable news have been on long declines.  And I find it outright shocking to learn how many people, especially millennials and Gen Zs, proudly trust as their primary news sources truth- challenged social media such as X, Facebook, and TikTok and podcasters like Joe Rogan.

So where to turn for useful and reliable information in 2025 for ourselves, and to recommend to our families and friends? I’ve been trying to curate a list and urging friends to give me their recommendations.  My top tier includes AP and Reuters, PBS Newshour and NPR, BBC, The Economist and the Wall Street Journal (for its news reporting not opinion pages). The Atlantic is the only magazine I read cover to cover, and I’ve liked Washington Monthly since the days Charlie Peters started it.  In recent years, I’ve come to rely on Teagan Goddard’s Political Wire and The Bulwark.

I appreciate Robert Hubbell’s and Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletters, Politico, The Bulwark and Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on CNN. A dependable news portal is Teagan Goddard’s Political Wire. New on the scene is The Contrarian, a start-up by recently resigned Washington Post staffers Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen. Its slogan is “not owned by anybody.” A wise friend recommended The Hedgehog Review for its discussion of ideas.

It’s also more important than ever to support new local online publications that have emerged to replace the late-but-no-longer-lamented local papers formerly published by companies like Gannett, which, like other owners, sold out to hedge funds (like Alden Capital). Those remote investors, in turn, could be depended upon to eviscerate and eliminate local news sources. [Full disclosure: I’m involved in the new online Newton Beacon, emblematic of efforts to address news deserts across the country.]

I’m eager for reader suggestions. What publications, print or digital, traditional and new media, are you reading? Who are your most esteemed writers? As much comfort as I have derived in the last two months of trying to avoid the news, this interim limbo period of near-total abstention is not a long-term remedy. Choosing news sources judiciously is the only way to go.

I paraphrase a notion offered by another observer: There are times when we must speak not because we can change the other person or situation but because, if we do not speak, that person has changed us. To speak usefully, however, we must seek out reliable information. Again, please share your recommendations.