Sy Hersch and Greg Palast are well-established journalists but some don't consider them professional. Many ex-Bush** administration and military personnel have written books and articles but some don't consider them professional.
If you want a start on suggested reading material then look in the
non-fiction book forum. You can also scrounge around the
Research forum.
The most important thing I can offer is to remain open-minded as you say you are, question everything, and do the research before coming to any conclusions. Unfortunately that's what it takes to get anywhere near the truth about this administration.