sifting the words

I have decided that reading the news in America is like listening to Gollum. Gandalf:

“What I have told you is what Gollum was willing to tell – though not, of course, in the way I have reported it. Gollum is a liar, and you have to sift his words. For instance, he called the Ring his ‘birthday-present’, and he stuck to that. He said it came from his grandmother, who had lots of beautiful things of that kind. A ridiculous story. I have no doubt that Sméagol’s grandmother was a matriarch, a great person in her way, but to talk of her possessing many Elven-rings was absurd, and as for giving them away, it was a lie. But a lie with a grain of truth.”

Every time I read a news story I ask a series of questions:

Whom is this account trying to please?
Whom or what is it afraid of?
What pre-existing narrative is it meant to confirm?
What conclusions is it trying to prevent me from drawing?
From what inconvenient truths is it meant to distract me?
What is the “grain of truth” to be plucked from all the lies and distortions?