You Tube used to be a good source for original news...

[kentuck]

It has become unbearable.

They will say and do anything to get a click. They pretend their story was put up in the last hour and when you click on it, you realize the story is about 6 months old or older. They create headlines to get your attention and their reports have nothing at all to do with their headlines. They tell the same story over and over and over, hoping someone will click on their bait. They just change their headline.

Some of them, such as Ben Meiselas, will report on Donald Trump a dozen times per day and pretend that he has something new to say. He will talk about Trump "decaying" hands and how he is dying right in front of us. He wants 6 million subscribers.

It is getting more difficult to find good news reports on You Tube.

You Tube used to be a good source but they are doing great damage to the dissemination of information, in my opinion. Perhaps it is just me, but they are becoming unwatchable.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Agree, a lot of retreads even from 10 years ago, and the new AI impersonations

are proliferating fast. YouTube should taken them down, they use the name, visible likeness, AI voice .... Rachel, BTC but these two have nothing to do with them. They are really Fake News! Ironic.

[kentuck]

4. YouTube is the worst for AI impersonators!

And most of them are not identified. Some will note that they have "altered or synthetic content". But it is a real problem as far as getting accurate information from trusted sources.

[enid602]

9. AI impersonations

There’s one program that features Robert De Niro, but he’s speaking with Joe Biden’s voice.

[sakabatou]

2. I don't use YT for news.

I only go there for entertainment.

[kentuck]

5. I use YT for music and sports a lot...

But, I used to get really good up-to-date news reports also. But that has become a cesspool.

[Boomerproud]

7. You took the word right out of my mouth.

CESSPOOL

[FarPoint]

3. I have notice this as well...

Glad you validated my concerns ...

[Tasmanian Devil]

6. My "nuclear" option

This might not work for you, but I turned off watch-history on YouTube a couple years ago and subscribe to just a few high-quality channels that I really like.

So when I go there I get a mostly blank page until I hit "Subscriptions" and see what's new in the channels I've pre-approved.

Works great. No algorithm trying to get me to watch anything. Just videos from the creators I like.

It still shows list of "suggestions" based on the video I'm currently watching, but that's easy enough to ignore.

To turn off watch history (from the YouTube page):
- click your profile icon
- click 'Your data in YouTube'
- scroll to "YouTube controls" and turn off history and search history

Side effects: you can't view your view history. Bookmark or save in watch-later anything you want to come back to.

Hope this helps!

[flvegan]

8. Worse even, it gets posted here. Oftentimes, without comment.

Like the arms of a clout chasing octopus, feels like sometimes.

[PatSeg]

18. That is really irritating

I rarely ever click on a YouTube video. I would really prefer to read whatever the story is. And as been mentioned, the headlines are often misleading and/or the stories are old news.

[snot]

10. Alternatives:

Try Consortium News, nakedcapitalism.com, or Chris Hedges' Substack.

[Dave says]

11. For me, the sharp decline started about 6 months ago

I used to access a pretty good stream of videos on everything from quantum physics to refutations of Trumponomics. Now it’s 40% AI slop; rightwingers for another 20%; sports, which I have no interest in whatsoever, for another 20%; shorts from the Sopranos and Breaking Bad for another 15%; leaving 5% for things I’m interested in watching. Not once have I watched a Joe Rogan video, so why does he appear so regularly in my stream?

I dimly recall being asked if YouTube can keep track of what I watch. I said no. After that, the decline hit full force.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. It isn't just you.

The entire platform is now solely there only for profit.

It did not used to be like this, but you know what happens when you wave money in front of a modern human being.

[mdbl]

13. The clickbait titles have gotten out of hand.

Even credible channels are using them to attract viewers. Some of them even admit that.

[GreatGazoo]

14. Very few YouTube channels are fact-bound

I look directly at state-sponsored and approved news (propaganda). They all have their own spin on "why" but taken together they will confirm "what happened": CNBC, NYTimes, RT, Haaretz, PressTV, DW, ABC (Australia). They all spin but they at least put more facts into it than YouTube does and they write at a higher level. You can get the facts quickly and ignore the narratives.

I also follow commodity prices which will move before news comes out. Oil dropped on Wednesday meaning that either the Ukraine war is almost over or bombing Nigeria and seizing two Venezuelan tankers was not enough to boost prices, or both. Either way they will ramp up regime change in one of those major oil producers. If oil pops over $70 then it may mean the Iran war is cued up again.

YouTube gets news last. It is a bunch of guys who "react" or comment on "news" that isn't vetted or fact-bound.

[FiveFifteen]

15. It doesn't help here, either...

… when members here pollute the threads with the same clickbait trash. We need to maintain critical thinking standards and pause before posting without asking “what’s the benefit and who is benefitting” from such clips.

I’ve used this community as a sober news aggregator since 2004, after Kerry’s loss, when I realized what a clickbait doom spiral of a wasteland HuffPost and Daily Kos had become. Stepping back from relentless triggering was the best thing for my political and personal sanity.

Now, more than ever, we need DemUnderground to remain a bulwark against lib/progressive fight or flight sensationalism that just exhausts and distracts us from real work and achieving real results.

[NowsTheTime]

16. I agree, but note how much we use it...however we should advocate for required disclaimers on non original sites & posts

[iemanja]

17. Meiselas is bad in that way

But Pod Save America and the Bulwark are better.

[Buddyzbuddy]

19. Completely agree.

[GoCubsGo]

20. Have you seen "The Daily Beans"?

Allison Gill of MSW Media (a.k.a. "Mueller She Wrote) does a daily news podcast, usually with Dana Goldberg. No clickbait, just straightforward news. They usually have a good interview guest, too. Harry Litman's "Talking Feds" podcast is also useful, if you want good legal analysis of current events.

I agree with you that some of the others are rapidly becoming unwatchable, Meidas Touch, especially. Which is unfortunate. Getting too big for their own heads.

[ToxMarz]

21. As far a Youtube news, I only click on news/opinion from content creators I know and like to hear their take on things

But I am aware it is "their" opinion and I don't swallow it blindly, still it is grounded in actual news happening. I don't care for Ben Meiselas format of MANY short reports a day, but the younger audience prefers that short and sweet format with multiple episodes a day and that's who he is reaching,( and arguablay better than Democrats tradtionally have). He doesn't only post them on YouTube, they are also on TikTiok, Spotify, Amazon Music, podcasts, etc. However you want to access them. Nothing is perfect. You can never please all of the people all of the time. No one has a handle on AI yet, it will probalby get worse before it gets better.

[barbtries]

22. Here are my current youtube go-to channels for Independent Media:

https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson
Heather Cox Richardson

https://www.youtube.com/@DemocracyDocket
Marc Elias covers primarily litigation related to republican efforts to keep people from voting. He is the attorney who basically beat krasnov in court about 60 times following the 2020 election.

https://www.youtube.com/@MaryTrumpMedia
Mary Trump, who has no fucks left to give and provides a window into the black soul of the president. She has a Saturday regular program called Trump Trolls Trump and I never miss it

https://www.youtube.com/@MSWMediaPods
Allison Gill (MuellerSheWrote) has several podcasts, including The Daily Beans with Dana Goldstein, Cleanup on Aisle 45 with Harry Dunn, and Unjustified with Andy McCabe

https://www.youtube.com/@politiscapetv
This is my great nephew Josh's channel. It's primarily commentary, but I had to give him a boost. He's trying to get to 30k subscribers within the next 4 days!

I also follow Harry Litman, the Bulwark, Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, and many others. Nicolle Wallace has a series on MS Now that is really good.

I have tired of the frantic delivery of Ben Meiselas and Michael Popok, but still tune in occasionally. when it comes to the insane crap krasnov spews, I read about on bluesky and avoid looking at or listening as much as i reasonably can

I have a few streaming channels but if I had to get rid of them all but one, my premium youtube subscription is the one I would keep. I'm also subscribed to tons of true crime, sheep and goat farmers, history channels, and more. A lot of lawmakers, C-Span, etc, etc. You can watch whole movies, sometimes for an additional fee, sometimes included with your subscription. and no commercials - I fast forward or jump ahead to the people I watch who include their own ads.

Virtually every one of the people above also have Substacks. Last but not least, look up lectures and interviews with Timothy Snyder, and read On Freedom. it's the most important book I read in 2025 and possibly ever, and he's a great historian and humanitarian.

I hope you'll check some of these out.