I’m a 21 yr old male. I was never taught anything about politics in school despite going all the way through year 12, and my Mum knows little because she doesn’t have to vote due to the year she moved here from New Zealand years before I was born, so doesn’t pay attention to the ins and outs of things in politics, and therefore didn’t teach me much throughout child-hood and teenage-hood about it.

I was born here in Australia in 2002, so I do have to vote. But I hate that every time a vote comes around, I am completely uninformed and have to vote based off of the miniscule amount of information I have which may not even be correct. If I try to use the internet to research about it, all I can find is mainstream media pushing towards one view or the other. I don’t appreciate being manipulated by media, and would rather find an unbiased source of information; so the very fact that I have difficulty finding unbiased information (or even just something approachable to a beginner) very much gate-keeps my ability to learn and be informed about what’s even going on in my country and develop an opinion that I’m comfortable with. So does anyone have any advice for me? I don’t even understand much of the basics of how the Australian government works, and what I read online about it, I find confusing, because it constantly uses political terminology it expects me to already know.

Edit: Thanks for the comments everyone, I appreciate the advice you’ve given me

  • Ilandar@aussie.zone
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    1 year ago

    What do you mean by “manipulated by mainstream media”? Can you list some news outlets you believe are publishing false or misleading information?

      • Ilandar@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        Whilst I agree, I am really hoping to hear OP’s answer. A lot of people from both sides of politics think the ABC is biased, for example, when in reality its news reporting is facts based and accurate. It has by far the best national political coverage.

        And that brings me to another common problem with media literacy: people confusing news with opinion pieces. For example, The Guardian’s opinion pieces are quite obviously going to be left-leaning but that doesn’t mean it is an inaccurate source of news.

      • mishellaneous @lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s very true about the Murdoch press

        Try the ABC and SBS for more balanced coverage of issues. Whilst The Guardian skews left / progressive, it has excellent journalism and they also have a daily podcast (mon-fri) that looks into a particular story each episode, as well as a weekly(?) Podcast about politics where they discuss current issues.