The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News • Hacker News Board

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#171

Post by slg » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:39 AM UTC

malvosenior wrote: post #167

slg wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because being politically active at any thing but the most basic level requires knowledge of the issues and knowledge of the issues requires following the news. If you are not politically active you are supporting the status quo because you are not putting in any effort to change the status quo.

Politics aren’t the only way to change the status quo. In fact they’re not good at it at all. Uber and AirBnB changed the status quo far more than any politician in my lifetime. Also, most people’s personal issues trump any macro issue by far. You can change your status quo. It’s almost impossible for an individual to change the status quo and definitely not through typical political engagement.

>Uber and AirBnB changed the status quo far more than any politician in my lifetime.

I am sorry, but that is just depressing if you believe something like that. The ACA is one thing that comes to mind. Improving healthcare for Americans would have a much bigger impact on people's lives than giving people who already own a home a way to make a little extra money.

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#172

Post by sonnyblarney » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:40 AM UTC

Hint: read American news from non-American sources, like BBC or better, German/French sources if you can handle the translation.

Better yet: from Canada, i.e. the CBC.

Then you see it from the outside, where narrators have less skin in the game, and it's all less click-baity.

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#173

Post by localhostdotdev » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:42 AM UTC

slg wrote: post #157

steelframe wrote: post #14

I stopped reading the news about a year ago. I felt like my emotions were being manipulated by a sharply-honed system built precisely to invoke outrage and draw you in to read more and more of it. I've been able to direct my focus and energy to much more productive tasks since I disconnected. Of course I entirely missed that whole Supreme Court thing until after it was over, and I have no idea what people around me a…

It needs to be pointed out that this is an option that originates from privilege. Ignoring the news means ignoring politics. Ignoring politics is tacit support of the status quo. The status quo does not put everyone on equal footing. Disadvantaged people would therefore suffer more from disengaging with the news than people of privilege.

my take on this is that's it's better focus on major actions taken during a mandate (and that's what people who don't care too much about politics do) to then inform the next vote.

that's why politics before the rise of the internet were much more formal, people remembered what was done and said.

now there is just so much noise it's very hard to distinguish the signal, which leads to people being influenced and directed into "identity politics" (are you yellow or green, blue or red, left or right, good or bad?)

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#174

Post by _cs2017_ » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:45 AM UTC

matt4077 wrote: post #54

_cs2017_ wrote: post #36

The article and the comments express the desire for news to be an effective tool to inform and educate the public. While appealing, this idea has never worked in the past, and there's no evidence that it can work in the near future. The reason is not that the media or the journalists do something wrong. Rather, the vast majority of the public is simply not interested in being educated or informed. You can send the be…

This sort of cynic pessimism is getting out of hand... By most any measure, today's western democracies are the best place, and time in history, to be alive: life expectancy, crime, food availability, mobility. This is also true of education and "being informed", although those are harder to measure. But literacy rates, high school and advanced degree proliferation, books being published, and of course internet acces…

> today's western democracies are the best place, and time in history, to be alive

> OP's position is basically "everything was better in the past" [that's from your other comment below]

I think the past was horrible, and I'm glad I live in this century. Why did you conclude that I like the past? Was some of my wording ambiguous?

I said:

> this idea has never worked in the past, and there's no evidence that it can work in the near future.

In other words, I believe the majority of the public was not, is not, and will not be (in the foreseeable future) interested in being informed and educated about politics.

Also, I personally never thought of myself as a cynic - I find the world to be quite enjoyable, and getting better (just not in this particular area).

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#175

Post by AWildC182 » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:46 AM UTC

yourbandsucks wrote: post #168

AWildC182 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can't change it but they still need to know to prepare for it. If the GOP killed the ACA, millions of people would need to immediately take action to find alternative support. Most of us on here would be fine either way.

Immediately take what action, specifically, in your ACA hypothetical? Honestly asking. Best I can come up with is "hope your kids don't get sick", followed by "ignore calls from debt collectors on that emergency room bill". Reading the news obsessively and buying into the culture war actually does nothing to make those strategies more effective. Just saps energy that could be spent elsewhere.

Fair question. It would depend on the individual, lots of people would also probably run to their doctors and get increased length/dosage prescriptions so they have some emergency supplies. Younger low income people might just cancel their insurance entirely, those with pre-existing conditions would have to consider employment changes potentially (contractor -> full time) and similarly for those on the marketplace.

Edit: To get on my soapbox a bit here, I think people are being a bit black and white as usual. Yea, you don't need to read every political opinion piece by Fox, CNN and NYT, but you also should read more than exactly zero. Neither of these extremes can possibly be optimal for everyone (or anyone probably). HN really likes the narrative "Title: X is problematic and we should fix it. Top Comment: Well I completely stopped X because it was bad for me and now everything is awesome and I'm a 10x dev!" but it's never really that simple.

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#176

Post by chillfox » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:47 AM UTC

throwaway5752 wrote: post #107

steelframe wrote: post #14

I stopped reading the news about a year ago. I felt like my emotions were being manipulated by a sharply-honed system built precisely to invoke outrage and draw you in to read more and more of it. I've been able to direct my focus and energy to much more productive tasks since I disconnected. Of course I entirely missed that whole Supreme Court thing until after it was over, and I have no idea what people around me a…

I pay a news site and I get high quality news from them that is curated. And since they make money from subscriptions, the need for eyeballs and page views is not a factor. Something to consider.

Care to share what news site that is?

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#177

Post by AWildC182 » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:48 AM UTC

Simon_says wrote: post #170

AWildC182 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you don't have to worry about your kids being separated from you at the border, being bombed by the Saudis, or losing our homes to climate change related events. Most of the things the news covers disproportionately effect destitute-through-low-income individuals.

Watching the news didn't help them ...

If you were in Yemen would the news that the Saudis were bombing civilians change your actions?

If you were attempting a border crossing into the US with children, would the news influence your approach?

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#178

Post by rexpop » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:49 AM UTC

malvosenior wrote: post #167

slg wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because being politically active at any thing but the most basic level requires knowledge of the issues and knowledge of the issues requires following the news. If you are not politically active you are supporting the status quo because you are not putting in any effort to change the status quo.

Politics aren’t the only way to change the status quo. In fact they’re not good at it at all. Uber and AirBnB changed the status quo far more than any politician in my lifetime. Also, most people’s personal issues trump any macro issue by far. You can change your status quo. It’s almost impossible for an individual to change the status quo and definitely not through typical political engagement.

> Politics aren’t the only way to change the status quo.

The status quo is a political arrangement. It's just a way of referring to the state of power's distribution across institutions and people. That's political.

There is literally, definitionally nothing apolitical that affects the status quo.

Changing the status quo is--inescapably, apodictically--political.

Uber and AirBnB are highly political institutions.

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#179

Post by rexpop » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:50 AM UTC

yourbandsucks wrote: post #168

AWildC182 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can't change it but they still need to know to prepare for it. If the GOP killed the ACA, millions of people would need to immediately take action to find alternative support. Most of us on here would be fine either way.

Immediately take what action, specifically, in your ACA hypothetical? Honestly asking. Best I can come up with is "hope your kids don't get sick", followed by "ignore calls from debt collectors on that emergency room bill". Reading the news obsessively and buying into the culture war actually does nothing to make those strategies more effective. Just saps energy that could be spent elsewhere.

Knowledge about the Individual Mandate matters a lot to lower income folks. We have to follow the news to learn about such things, whereas the privileged techie does not.

Re: The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News

#180

Post by vanderZwan » Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 12:50 AM UTC

Somewhat surprised that there is no mention of The Correspondent yet. The Dutch version has been quite successful for quite a few years now, and they're launching an international version later this year[0][1].

(Having said that, the authors of De Correspondent sometimes come across as oblivious to how their world views are shaped by living in the cultural bubble that is the Randstad[2]. There is a certain arrogance to the writing style that just makes it feel like the kind of thing that people living in Amsterdam would write, and it sometimes rubs me the wrong way. I guess that makes it the Dutch equivalent to the New Yorker.)

[0] https://thecorrespondent.com/

[1] https://decorrespondent.nl/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randstad