While I argee with you about the dismal quality of the US media, I do not buy the view that a Yank must make a lot of effort to get unbiased news. Actually, there are plenty of the English- language information sites on the net that operate independently of the US media industry - much of it (such as the Guardian) reporting reputable Left position.
I could favorably compare that to Eastern European countries, where the lack of language skills bars access to independed from propaganda machine news. Western Europe, otoh, is much better because of its openly partisan media providing reputable reporting from diverginag political points of view (as opposed to nominally "non-political" media in the US, which relegates partisan reporting to fringe publications).
wojtek