Tired of recycled news and clickbait? A veteran tech writer shares three strategies to stay informed without falling for algorithmic traps, from AI fact-checking to curating your own sources.
NEWS CORP currently carries an Alpha Score of n/a, giving AlphaScala's model a neutral read on the setup.
Mala Bhargava, a veteran tech writer, opens her morning with tea and a phone check. One recent morning, a live YouTube feed screamed "Emergency" with Donald Trump's face. She sat up, alarmed. The video turned out to be months old, recycled for clicks. She turned it off in disgust.
She is not alone. The 24/7 news cycle is exhausting. Fear of missing out wars with the reality that much of what floods feeds is old news repackaged to heighten sensationalism or provoke anger. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 flagged news avoidance as a growing phenomenon. Trust erodes when users are tricked into wasting time on non-news.
Bhargava offers three strategies to stay informed without falling for algorithmic traps.
Let AI do the fact-checking. Drop a suspicious link into a chatbot and ask: When did this happen? What is the impact? Keep it short. She uses this often and says it has failed only once, when the chatbot initially denied an event that had actually occurred. The bot later corrected itself. The approach is less stressful than clicking through to discover manipulation.
Use YouTube's Gemini feature. Under most videos, a Gemini button lets you ask questions based on the video and its transcript. Ask when an event took place or what the emergency is. If the answer is "that isn't covered in this video," you know the headline is bait. Bhargava says this makes her feel she outwitted the creator rather than being played.
Curate your own sources. Collect a handful of outlets you trust implicitly. Go to them directly rather than letting an algorithm feed you. The risk is an echo chamber, so add or explore other sources by searching for them, not by accepting personalized recommendations. The stronger the emotion a headline evokes, the more important it is to deploy one of these strategies.
Bhargava ends with a practical note: she enjoys her morning tea more knowing the emergency in question was actually last Tuesday.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.