Should we stop reading the news

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355230#Comment_122355230

I lost my sense of fascination some time ago. Like, I just found out that my brother-in-law believes in chemtrails. I knew he was an anti-vaxxer so I can hardly be too surprised.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122353839#Comment_122353839

I suppose that POV makes sense if one is involved in maintaining the status quo and is generally supportive of whatever the government of the day is doing. In this situation, the public needed to be informed but let's not have them thinking too much about policies and events. It's a balance for such people - Paddy likes to know but don't encourage Paddy to learn too much.. would that be how you might see it?

It is of course why the excessive spread of social media commentary on matters in the news is frowned upon by the powers that be.

Wanderer78

this was spoken about to some degree at this year dalkey book festival, we all know print media has been in serious trouble for a long time, but at least there are many journalists out there doing their utmost to research and write to the best of their ability, so, no, we shouldn't stop reading the news, but it can be very difficult to get access to relatively unbiased news……

Kurooi

Yes, modern media is 99% sensationalism, and getting some sense of mental fulfillment or entertainment out of reading about crime, rape, murder and all other sorts of misery doesn't make you a bad person, but it doesn't make you a good person either.

I prefer business papers like the economist to keep an eye on world events, might skim most of it but at least when they cover politics or war it's mostly from the perspective of the money and power struggles involved so you understand why things happen. I'd love to have a more professional Irish newspaper but I don't think one exists. A lot of Irish times or Independent is filled by opinion pieces, easy grabs for junior writers and sensational content ripped straight off social media. Those "news" pieces that just throw in screenshots of 10 tweets , do they think this is content? That this rubbish can be monetized? Do they think we're that stupid? It's insulting. I'll cheer to see those outlets go.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355608#Comment_122355608

…at least we havent gone into the gutter with our main media sources, times journalism is actually generally very good….

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355608#Comment_122355608

That's not a modern development. William Hearst coined the term "If it bleeds, it leads" back at the end of the 19th century - basically meaning that anything involving violence, tragedy, death etc. would go front and centre in his papers as that's what piques public interest. Prurience isn't a new phenomenon; to a large degree it's probably part of human nature, because it allows us to reaffirm our own (absolutely illogical) sense of immunity to such things ever happening to us. It's just more noticeable now as the news cycle is 24/7, global and surrounding us on various devices.

Up until very recently it was quite literally part of my job to read the news daily and be completely up to date on current affairs. It can absolutely get a bit overwhelming and depressing. It'll probably take me a while to wean myself off the habit, but I do plan to try and consume less news media now that I no longer have to.

Water John

Get your news, once a day. no need for the constant repetition.

Witcher

Like most things in life, in itself the news is fine, the issue is how people engage with it.

People are reading stories then coming on here, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, getting into rows and obsessing over it. The incident being reported is done, it's over with, you have zero power over it.

Yet they're still getting anxious over it, 'but what about (insert minute detail of no consequence)?' You see it here when there's a news story, you could have 100 posts in a thread and some threads a random user will account for 75%+ of them.

Just read the news, say 'grand' and move on, go spend time with your family, you won't be on your deathbed saying I wish I'd read more fcking news.

I definitely think since Covid consumption and engagement with news has become more obsessive for some people. Not to tar with a brush either but the move to WFH accounts for part of that in my own experience, a lot of people are sitting in the house looking at four walls and aren't touching grass from one end of a week to the next. The news and panicing over it and getting into rows about it online is nearly the only way they know the world exists.

Bobtheman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355273#Comment_122355273

Fair enough. Though a lot of papers are full of **** too. The independent has declined greatly. The Irish Times tends to be more detailed about stuff but promotes too much wokeness for my liking

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356028#Comment_122356028

deleted

buried

People are getting too emotionally involved with the news, especially international news. It's all well and good to know what is going on, but for the last 10 -15 years people have become infatuated with loosing their minds over incidents that only occur and only effect places 2000-3000 miles away. And if you live in Ireland, only plan to live in Ireland, there is literally f**k all you can do about these international news stories, but the combined media would have you believe it was literally happening in the ditch beside your gaff. It's not. Look after your own and treat the news as how you'd treat the weather broadcast, its happening and there is f**k all you can do to stop it.

osarusan

Stay informed, but stay away from 24-hour news media, who simply have to sensationalise and catastrophise to keep viewers.

Years ago when I first moved away from Ireland, to a country where access to English news was limited (home broadband was in its infancy), I ended up watching a lot of CNN International, purely because it was in English. And it only took a few hours for a few days before I realised how it's the same thing over and over and over again - same questions, same presentation of threats, same exaggerations…just packaged differently in the form of different stories.

I remember reading about how, years ago, the producers of the first cooking shows on US TV, who had assumed that the shows were educational/informative in a way, were shocked to hear that a whole load of housewives watching the programme had no intention of actually cooking any the dishes on show - they were watching purely for entertainment.

I think the same about 24-hour news media - it's just a form of entertainment, a real life soap opera, and a bad one at that.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356522#Comment_122356522

Aptly named - sure let's just stick our heads in the sand and hope for the best. Another philosophy that suits the powers that be.

Sleeper12

Pretty much gave up on the news around 2020. If I heard "wash your hands" or "your mask protects me and my mask protects you" one more time, I do believe I may have killed myself 🤔

buried

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356571#Comment_122356571

Well, loosing your precious mind over some craic that happens 3000 miles away seems to really suit the powers that be, because they continuously get away with it, even as you continuously loose your mind over it. So what's the point of me getting stressed over it. You can get stressed over it all you want F. I fully agree you have the right to do so, even if I don't advise it.

Spanish Eyes

I gave up during Covid, and never really went back. I include TV and radio news/current affairs in that too. For me the biggest frustration is the lack of unbiased reportage and proper investigative journalism. That's all gone now and we have to filter out the bias of each news provider and wonder who is actually telling us the truth!

Obviously I keep up with breaking news and all that, but I don't read articles or watch the likes of Prime Time investigates or the news anymore. And to say I'm sick of talking heads (carefully selected for bias reasons I think) on TV and radio discussing a topic, when the elephant in the room is more often than not ignored by a carefully curated panel.

I do enjoy reading foreign news though for some weird reason. Maybe it's to convince myself that we aren't all that bad and mad here after all.

Jinglejangle69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355288#Comment_122355288

Cod liver oil is actually a waste of money and time when you do the research.

Anyway…

Sleeper12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356723#Comment_122356723

My cardiologist would disagree with you on that but I'm sure you know more than him 👍

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356723#Comment_122356723

Thanks for the tip.

Jinglejangle69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356752#Comment_122356752

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jul/25/fish-oil-hype-health-planet-supplements-study-no-benefit

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-false-promise-of-fish-oil-supplements
I’m sure your cardiologist has his own opinions like other cardiologists and experts etc etc.

Bobtheman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356571#Comment_122356571

Simplistic. Nobody is saying we should not read scandals in Ireland. But how much do we need to know about Gaza? I can see it now Israel pulls out of Gaza because Irish people outraged.

patmahe

I check the news about every 48 hours just to make sure WWIII hasn't broken out and to stay mildly informed about the issues of the day, but I certainly don't want notifications going direct to my phone every 5 minutes with some awful news 24/7, its almost never anything good, the old news adage of 'if it bleeds it leads' seems more prevalent than ever. For some people there seems to be genuine FOMO, for me I'm happy enough to just drip feed it to myself whenever the notion takes me. I don't want to avoid the news, but I don't need it all day every day.

I've dialed everything way back from a social media point of view too over the past couple of years, can't say I miss it.

Bobtheman

Id like any critiques of the piece itself. I wasn't sure if I handled rape stories that well. Again I emphasis im not making money off the piece or clicks. Not in that game at present.

https://medium.com/%40williamlynch1970/stop-reading-stuff-that-makes-you-miserable-77c520da3207

silverharp

it does seem an outdated concept when you think about it, something for old people I guess?

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354630#Comment_122354630

Same as that.

I loved consuming news when I was younger and especially talk radio.In the last 10 years or since Brexit/Trump/Covid/ukraine/Gaza /immigration it has become very toxic.Its designed to illicit a reaction from people and its usually fear/anger/frustration.The vast majority is negative.

The online situation and social media in particular in 10 times worse.I think we'll look back in decades to come and be aghast at the resultant health and social problems caused by misinformation/propaganda/government narratives/doomscrolling/online bickering.

People really have to make a decision about this kind of stuff,it's really insidious,I remember when FB was great craic.

I've (only recently enough) decided I really need to curate what I consume and feel much the better for it.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122357684#Comment_122357684

We need to know all about Gaza and the abomination that the state of Israel has morphed into. So we can avoid all business and contact with these pariahs in the future.

Hyperbollix

Over the last few years, news and current affairs have taken over for me as my passive hobby. What I mean is, in the past, I watched more sports, played video games etc but now I find myself turning to Youtube and listening to podcasts to keep up with what's going on in Ireland and around the world.

I've definitely come to the conclusion, ignorance is bliss. As I'm sure we all do, I have friends and family who are completely disconnected from the news. Ukraine, Gaza, Brexit, Trump etc etc, wouldn't feature for a moment in their minds from one week to the next. Are they any worse off? No. Ok, I don't want to be one of these people who just reads facebook, trusts nothing and no-one and just talks about conspiracies, but there is certainly a quota of news that is healthy and amount above that, that is pointless and counter-productive. The older generations had it right in the pre tech era. Buy the odd newspaper and watch the odd news bulletin. Job done.

furiousox

I used to wake up fairly content but by the time I'd listened to the news and "it says in the papers" I'd find myself to be in a deep and existential funk.

So about March last year (around the time of the earthquake in Turkey?) I stopped listening/watching to all news media as an experiment.

It's a bit disconcerting at first but you get used to it and you realise quickly that you can live quite happily without being constantly bombarded by "news".

I did get some pushback from work colleagues who said that it was a mistake and that I "needed to stay informed"

My argument back was that there are tribes in the Amazon jungle living quite happily for years without ever "needing to stay informed"

I also feel that unless something lands at my front door and affects me or my family then it's largely irrelevant to my day to day living.

I still hear bits and pieces of news second hand so I'm aware of the recent Crotty trial etc but as far as Gaza/Ukraine goes I've no idea of any occurrences there for 12 months or more.

I've seen friends and family upset and annoyed over what's happening in Gaza but why put yourself through that?

It seems to me any news item will either annoy you or agitate you so why expose yourself to that on a daily basis over something you can't change or control?

It's funny when you haven't seen Sky news for months and catch a glimpse in a doctor's waiting room, the shouting and urgency of the newsreaders is actually quite obvious and amusing.

loyatemu

I deleted all the news apps on my phone when I went on holidays recently (having deleted all social apps some time ago). Basically it was like going back in time to the days when the only news you saw while away was maybe a 3 day old copy of the Daily Mail. I got home and saw a story about "Finance Minister Jack Chambers" and thought WTF?

More generally there is too much news available and I don't think it's a positive development; there's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world that I can't do sh|t about, and it doesn't help my mental state to be reading about it all the time. I don't think we should be ignorant of world events, but there is a balance to be struck and I think I was happier when I read the newspaper in the morning and maybe watched the 9 o'clock news and that was it.

Musicrules

So many people have a prejudice depending on where they hear their news. BBC viewers have a warped view of different topics, the same as some who watch Russia Today. Propaganda still rules the World. The funny thing is that so many don't realise how easily they are influenced.