How do other people deal with the torrent of information that pours down on us all? What sources can't they live without? To find out, we regularly reach out to well-informed people to learn more about their media diets. This is drawn from a conversation with Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's nightly show "Hardball with Chris Matthews."

We set the alarm for 7 a.m. I get up and go downstairs and make a skim latte for my wife and begin my French roast. Then I start reading newspapers with the TV off. I read the shopper first, it's The Washington Examiner. It's edited by a fine journalist named Steve Smith. It has a very late deadline and I enjoy reading their takes. There are no jumps. It has a page very similar to the New York Post's Page Six and it really primes the pump. I go to Politico next and I get it in hard copy. It comes in a very crisp paper stock that I like. I'll read the stories through the jumps, scan for bylines and find topics for "Hardball." Then I'll go to The Washington Post: open it up, go through the front page and page two and the Style section, which isn't as good as it used to be. Then I'll look at the op-ed page and I'll read with great interest E.J. Dionne, Eugene Robinson and conservatives George Will and Charles Krauthammer. Then I'll look at the sports page to see how the Phillies are doing and move on to The New York Times for their international coverage, eventually making my way to the op-ed page where I'll read Maureen Dowd and David Brooks. That's my morning.

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.