I do a reset every year where I stop following the news for the month of October, because the propaganda gets most extreme leading up to US elections. It always helps me recalibrate what stories matter and what's just noise.

It's been a bit more challenging this year with the situation in Israel, but I'm trying to stick with it.

Otherwise, I filter most news through an incentives lens. Why is that outlet telling me that story? Does the narrative make sense in terms of the incentives faced by the parties involved?

I also pay attention to the biases of the outlets. I'm very dismissive of stories that closely resemble what a particular outlet tends to get wrong.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, I completely discount anything said by known propagandists (as in outlets that have been caught knowingly spreading falsehoods because it advanced their preferred narrative). I don't assume those outlets are lying, because they tell the truth if that's what's convenient to them. Rather, I attach no weight to what they say and wait for honest/reliable actors to comment on the situation.