Language Tools
WordCount – English language word-usage frequency discovery tool
Dialect Map – Aggregate US English-language dialect mapping tool

Internet Communities
Reddit – the platform for internet communities

Favorite Media Sources
Epoch Times – a major newspaper rooted in exposing practices of the China’s communist government – Facebook

Journalism Research Sources
PEW Research – extensive research and reports of American society, media, government and more

Infographics
Functional Art – Alberto Cairo is the leading expert on infographics. He does a mooc at the University of Texas Knight Center and repeats it regularly

Watchdog

Corporate
Little Sis – grassroots watchdog network connecting the dots between the world’s most powerful people and organizations.
OpenCorporates – the open database of the corporate world

Government
Maplight – monitoring the influence of money on congressNational Council on Public Polls – election poll monitoringFOIA Machine – automate your freedom of information act (FOIA) requests

Privacy
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – defending your rights in the digital world

Journalism
Journalist’s Toolbox – resources for journalists by journalistsProPublica – journalism in the public interest