I'd go one step further and say that even primary observation doesn't guarantee you'll have a good idea of what's happening. Just ask a group of your friends from Ukraine/Iran/Pakistan/Haiti (or any other country that's in the news).
It's unlikely they'll have the same position on the issues that they all have first hand information about. The issues that are portrayed as black and white in our media, where the good and bad side is "so obvious", are suddenly not that obvious if you ask someone who actually knows more.
I know it's not a popular approach, but I just accept that everything I know could be wrong, and I don't know who the bad and good guys are (tbh, most often it's just various groups of bad guys the more research you do).
It's unlikely they'll have the same position on the issues that they all have first hand information about. The issues that are portrayed as black and white in our media, where the good and bad side is "so obvious", are suddenly not that obvious if you ask someone who actually knows more.
I know it's not a popular approach, but I just accept that everything I know could be wrong, and I don't know who the bad and good guys are (tbh, most often it's just various groups of bad guys the more research you do).