Things You Notice When You Quit the News • Hacker News Board

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#81

Post by equalarrow » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 2:52 AM UTC

cylinder wrote: post #2

I don't have much to add other than I agree with all these points and suggest more Americans ignore the so called "news" we're being pushed with into hysteria. Also your Facebook feed is probably a huge drain, I'd recommend unfollowing everyone or at least aggressively curating down to people and things you truly care about.

Or just dropping out of facebook and having face to face relationships with those that matter most. That's what I did and I don't feel any worse for it. My relationships are better too because they're actually real.

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#82

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 2:54 AM UTC

sydd wrote: post #46

gnarbarian wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole FUD campaign regarding "Fake News" is comically hypocritical in my opinion. Glenn Greenwald has an excellent article calling them out for it: https://theintercept.com/2016/12/09/a-clinton-fan-manufactur... Edit: Ironically, that post was doing great until it got flagged. Edit 2: It has been unflagged Edit 3: Flagged again.

Great article. Although I wonder why it fails to criticize Trump's side...

[deleted]

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#83

Post by crimsonalucard » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 2:54 AM UTC

Tempest1981 wrote: post #8

The local news seems to always be about murders and violence. Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? (Celebrities, ok, maybe, but random people?)

what are celebrities if not random people?

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#84

Post by woobar » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 2:56 AM UTC

gurneyHaleck wrote: post #26

There was a period of time, starting upon the day of, and then continuing for some years after the 9/11 attacks, where " The News " was something you couldn't help but be engrossed by. Growing up during an era of Johnny Carson, in a house with no cable, and attending high school in the 90's, " The News " was something very different prior to 9/11. 24 hour cable news started providing information on fast moving events…

I am not sure one needed family members in military to learn about invasion. The invasion of Iraq surfaced immediately after the 9/11 attacks. [1]

Guardian reported about US plans (including use of ground troops) in December 2001. [2]

[1] In November 2001 72% respondents in Gallup poll favored invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops. http://www.gallup.com/poll/8038/seventytwo-percent-americans... [2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/02/afghanistan.ir...

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#85

Post by equalarrow » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 2:56 AM UTC

gurneyHaleck wrote: post #26

There was a period of time, starting upon the day of, and then continuing for some years after the 9/11 attacks, where " The News " was something you couldn't help but be engrossed by. Growing up during an era of Johnny Carson, in a house with no cable, and attending high school in the 90's, " The News " was something very different prior to 9/11. 24 hour cable news started providing information on fast moving events…

I remember specifically one day, I think in Oct '11 walking up the stairs from the train station and seeing someone reading a newspaper with some heading like 'US is going to look at invading Iraq for 9/11'. I just remember thinking _WHY_, that didn't make any sense.

Of course we all now know, but it was just so weird to see that because I knew it had little to do with any of what was going on (I also knew Saddam was an ally before).

But, such is the bizarro world we live in now.

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#86

Post by leephillips » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 2:59 AM UTC

gnarbarian wrote: post #28

cloakandswagger wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at recent events if you need further evidence of this. The term "fake news" has exploded in just under a month in the mainstream media. If my memory serves me, tabloids like The Enquirer have been sitting on news stands for as long as I can remember. So how did this fervor over "fake news" coalesce so quickly and uniformly? Mainstream outlets move in lockstep with each other and these are the final, desperate de…

The whole FUD campaign regarding "Fake News" is comically hypocritical in my opinion. Glenn Greenwald has an excellent article calling them out for it: https://theintercept.com/2016/12/09/a-clinton-fan-manufactur... Edit: Ironically, that post was doing great until it got flagged. Edit 2: It has been unflagged Edit 3: Flagged again.

Greenwald's "excellent" piece is itself fake news. It deliberately misrepresents the reporting done by Kurt Eichenwald about the leaked emails. We know it's deliberate because he's distorted the story the same way in the past and it's been pointed out to him. Eichenwald did not claim that the leaked information was false, but showed, to a high degree of certainty, that Trump campaign staffers were working with Russian disinformation operatives. It was an amazing story.

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#87

Post by knz » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 3:00 AM UTC

equalarrow wrote: post #78

knz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside of this approach is that if we all did it then the world would be a much worse place. Paying attention to current events and bearing witness to some of the darkest aspects of human history is important at a societal level and if you don't think it is important to you personally then consider yourself lucky to live a life where the real world doesn't creep in often. Understanding topics such as why refuge…

> Paying attention to current events and bearing witness to some of the darkest aspects of human history is important at a societal level and if you don't think it is important to you personally then consider yourself lucky to live a life where the real world doesn't creep in often. But, how do you even know what really happens? Mainstream news is ridiculous in its intent because it literally is "if it thinks it stin…

> But, how do you even know what really happens? Mainstream news is ridiculous in its intent because it literally is "if it thinks it stinks, if it bleeds it leads". There is nothing good to get from mainstream news. Nothing. Sliced and diced to the most emotional snippets you could conceive of.

The only ways to mitigate this is to use a healthy amount of skepticism, to educate yourself on the historical context of ongoing current events, and to be aware of the slant that even the most impartial news source may have.

I don't disagree in regards to acting rather than just being informed and that acting locally is probably the best way we can make a difference. Likewise with burning out on media!

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#88

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 3:03 AM UTC

crimsonalucard wrote: post #83

Tempest1981 wrote: post #8

The local news seems to always be about murders and violence. Why is it beneficial to learn about every instance of "humans behaving badly"? (Celebrities, ok, maybe, but random people?)

what are celebrities if not random people?

[deleted]

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#89

Post by sien » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 3:04 AM UTC

copperx wrote: post #22

redsummer wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He mentions: "instead of reading the back and forth of a daily, why not read a weekly review? Instead of a weekly review, why not read a monthly magazine? Instead of a monthly magazine, why not read an annual book?" Can anyone recommend such a weekly or monthly review? One that isn't particularly ideological. It would save so much time.

The Economist is a good weekly review; the stories are very short but the information density is high.

That and listen to a short, quality news bulletin once a day like NPR or the BBC is all you want.

Re: Things You Notice When You Quit the News

#90

Post by flogic » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 3:06 AM UTC

tasty_freeze wrote: post #31

sean_patel wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why everyone is downvoting this. Care to explain, down-voters? > I told them that people in my life would let me know if anything occurred that I needed to know. This is so true. I told my girlfriend the same thing after she got mad that I quit news and said "Oh, you'll need to know important local news (stabbings, crime in San Francisco, protests for traffic etc). That 1 time where someone 4 blocks from…

Here are a few reasons * It puts the burden of collecting and summarizing relevant news on others * You are at the mercy of the grapevine effect, which only gets worse as more and more people take up this solution so your news takes more hops before you receive it * And, most importantly, your sources are also not getting their news first hand; their sources the very same crappy news outlets that you yourself rejecte…

Not really though. If it's important, you have the option to do a dive and read up on something. At least for me, it's not about not paying attention. It's about not being force fed. The world can be an awful place especially when viewed through the lens of sensationalism. It's just not healthy for my household to be constantly connected to that. So what I do is try to pay attention on a meta level and only delve for details on my term. It requires intellectual honesty but in the end is healthier and more informative.