I also recommend Purity Products multi-vitamins. Those are the best I found. They put supermarket/drug store namebrands to shame. Just follow the directions on the bottle. (The only reason I stopped taking them was because they are expensive.)
I agree with you on the NYTimes and other major publications, including TV. I remember when they tried to link Vitamin C to breast cancer. Most of the "indie" stuff I read is in a very different format: General overview, laymen's terms, with plenty of citations to studies and research throughout. I then use Google for more verification and expansion on the issue. I found the world is working against you: It's so easy to get mediocre info. and then think the vitamin/supplement claims are just pure hype.
I only made the remark about the journalistic quality b/c lately I've noticed that that exact structure (anecdote -> fact dropping -> implied conclusion) is very commonly used by the Times in all different sections of the paper, and clearly from the success of the paper many people are unaware that they are reading a persuasive piece.