You're right. It gets really gnarly, really quickly. "X says Y" is objective news, but it is extremely difficult to evaluate Y without deep knowledge of both the background of Y and the reliability of X.
"Y is actually not true" is partial, biased journalism, but can also serve as critical information about the truth of Y, or the reliability of X!
The safest bet is to be aware of what the news is claiming, but remember at all times that the news is a signal repeater, not a signal generator. Whenever possible, one must find primary documents or videos.
"Y is actually not true" is partial, biased journalism, but can also serve as critical information about the truth of Y, or the reliability of X!
The safest bet is to be aware of what the news is claiming, but remember at all times that the news is a signal repeater, not a signal generator. Whenever possible, one must find primary documents or videos.