Except in most "democracies" there is no direct voting on issues. Instead you vote for parties or people who you believe align with your values. To find out about those people/parties you probably need "news"

How on earth do you need a newspaper to tell you which political party aligns with your values?

Depending on where you live, there’s 2-10 parties. You know who they are and what they want. If you want to affect the outcome you can get involved in your local politics; being glued to NYT.com all day isn’t changing one thing except wasting time.