A Starting Point: A Website Offering Unbiased Political Information

In the months before a presidential election, it’s tempting for me to read or listen to biased news — hoping to come across something that reassures my beliefs. On top of this, I often resort to my parents to hear all of the latest information regarding politics.

But this habit only causes a closed mindset. I can admit that I tend to only know the strong points on the left side and the weak points of the right. After coming to terms with the fact that I needed an unbiased news outlet, I found the website A Starting Point.

The ‘starting points’ presented on their website are the most common political debate topics — the environment, economy and immigration to name a few. Each of these points come with subcategories, such as trade and taxes under the economy tab. Under each subcategory are two minute videos from three Democratic and three Republican elected officials — making it an ideal way to hear the opinions of educated officials from both sides.

The ‘counterpoints’ tab found on the website is where I was truly able to form my own opinion. It features short debates between one Republican and one Democratic official over a variety of important topics in just under two minutes. My short attention span appreciates this feature for giving me a lot of information in a short amount of time. 

As a teenager, it’s easy to let my parents’ political opinions and casual commentary in the kitchen influence my own views. Whether I agree with them or not, I can’t rely on them as my only source of news. A Starting Point is not only helping me get away from this subconscious habit, but it’s also teaching me some of the basic terms and people in government that I probably should’ve known already.

Websites like these are vital for not only young adults but for everyone. It’s extremely easy to base your beliefs off of fake news and what you hear from people around you. When it comes to political beliefs, being a bandwagon voter is simply not an option.