Memes

That's not what I'm saying at all. The first step to my perspective is to consider the framing they're using and to think why they want to push a particular narrative. Nowhere did I say anything about assuming they're being truthful. Although, in most cases western media uses more sophisticated techniques for distorting information than outright lying. It will be omission of facts, framing, and so on. This is an excellent book dissecting how US propaganda actually works. https://november8ph.ca/psychological-warfare-in-the-strategy-of-imperialism-v-l-artemov/

And you should also widen your media diet to include non western sources. These will have different biases and framings which you can contrast with what western media reports.