Should we stop reading the news

I used to get most of my news from Twitter but I deleted it 3 weeks or so ago and I am really happy I did.

Got overloaded with info there the majority of which was completely false or irrelevant to my life.

The legendary Bill Hicks pondered this phenomenon some decades ago

You know my problem? I watch too much news. I don’t know if you ever, ever, ever sat and watched CNN longer than, say… …20 hours in one day. I’ve got to cut that out. If you ever watch CNN headline news for any length of time it’s the most depressing effing thing you will ever do; “War, famine, death, AIDS, homeless, recession, depression, war, famine death, AIDS…” Then you look out your window it’s just: [imitates the sound of crickets chirping] Where is all this stuff happening man? Ted Turner is making this stuff up! Jane Fonda won’t sleep with him, he runs to a typewriter: “By 1992 we will all die of AIDS – Read that on the air. I don’t get laid, nobody gets laid”

I disagree.

I think we all need to be aware (to an extent) of what is going on, even if not all of it directly impacts us. Not every rape, murder or assault trial is the same.

For example, the recent reporting on the horrific physical assault on a victim that resulted in a fully suspended sentence for the perpetrator, which was a complete injustice.

If it went unreported, "because assaults happen all the time" the situation would never change. If this case had gone unreported, the public outcry which followed wouldn't have happened. And maybe that outcry was not responsible for the DPP deciding to appeal the sentence, but it may have had a part to play in it.

Of course, everyone should only consume media to the extent that they can personally tolerate. It is possible to curate your own intake of all media, and sources.

That doesn't mean something should not be reported on because there have been similar cases in the past.

The comments section on news articles can sometimes act an enjoyable chaser of brevity or wanton insanity.

Of course the news is mostly about horrible things. People need to be informed about what is happening in their country. Does it mean that's all that's happening in the country? Of course not, but these things have an effect socially and nationally. Nobody should be sitting glued to the news for so long, and particularly in America where the "news" is more opinion pieces and entertainment designed to keep viewers watching and nodding along, but yes the news should report on what's happening even if it's horrible.

Otherwise our news reports may as well just be Anchorman

The solution to consuming media which makes one miserable, isn’t to consume no media, but rather broaden their horizons beyond the media they consume. There’s as much news which gives people enjoyment as there is news which makes people miserable, and then there’s the people who make the news because they read something which made them miserable and inspired them to do something about it, resulting in an outcome which makes them feel better having taken on a challenge and achieving a positive outcome.

Much as I enjoy the idea of ‘ignorance is bliss’, it’s an idea which lends itself to navel gazing 😒

The absolute f**kwittery you read on comments sections of the likes of the Journal, twitter, boards and social media in general shows to me that it is a long long time since people in Ireland have been so ill-informed of the country we live in and the world around them.

I think everyone should read or hear at least the balanced headlines of Irish and world news delivered by a reputable news organisation every day. In fact, I know it's not realistic, but I genuinely believe that in order to have a vote you should be able to prove some kind of level of knowledge of the world around you and what you are voting for. Take for example the fact that Derek Blighe got over 25k first preference votes in the European election. Did 25k people actually decide, yes, I actually agree with the raving loon conspiracy theorist or were they just badly informed morons who bought into the anti-FF, FG & SF the-country-is-f**ked BS being spouted on social media and tick a box beside a name who wasn't mainstream without knowing remotely what he stood for. Obviously I don't know the answer to that but I believe it's the latter.

In general, yes.

I used to commute a lot for work - still do a bit of driving but nowhere near as much.

I was constantly listening to news radio. It occurred to me after a bit that the vast majority of 'news' was designed to cultivate clicks/texts or generally increase anxiety. I realized that my stress levels were being affected and I took the decision to stop.

I switched to podcasts instead - listening to subjects that actually interest me such as history, sport, music and movies.

I stopped watching any news programs or reading daily papers - I buy one Sunday paper a week and that does me perfectly.

The media's primary goal is not to inform you - it's to keep you tuned in and consuming their product. Having you in a constant state of anxiety is advantageous to them.

I'm definitely happier since I stopped consuming so much news.

Even before the now widespread distribution of "news" by social media a friend of mine had given up on many mainsteam media journalists, saying for him news was being given the facts upon which he was quite capable of making up his own mind rather than reading the often biased opinion of someone else.

He, God rest him is long gone now, but for me it`s a wisdom that just gets stronger with each passing day.

News is bad news and I think people are depressed because of it. There is an oversaturation.

20, 30 years ago news were still bad but in comparison they were mostly local news. Today it comes at us from all corners of the world and it's a permanent barrage of it. New deadly virus from permafrost in Siberia. Jungle hacked down in Papua-New-Guinea 300 more species extinct since last week. Another covid strain. Another river dead in India people pissin black. Gulf stream breaking down next week for sure. Civil war with atrocities in Kenia. Bomb in Gaza. Stray missile in the Ukraine. 13 year old rapes and kills 8 year old in Canada. 50 young students killed by militia gangsters in Mexico. And so on and so on. Never stops only becomes more and worse.

I mean how does anyone deal with that? I dont think human minds are designed for it. No wonder the young people are checking out or else have any number of disorders or both. I mean they dont even know of a time before all that, its all they know they grew up in that. Its mental.

Me personally I read my daily paper or two so I dont miss World War 3 and I know who's in government and thats mostly it. I have a small number of subjects I follow 'cos they're close to my heart but I have no twitter, insta, news websites, any of that sh1te. I never watch news channels, ever. I mooch around on boards a little, visit reddit but not current affairs and what I mostly engage with is sports. One needs to find a balance or else deep down you just want to top yourself every day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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 🤔

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.

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

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.