I've been trying to avoid the news for my whole life, but there really is no escape from the US news cycle if you are online. Still, it's probably a huge quality of life improvement if you stop actively seeking it out.
Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
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Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#12What I'm amazed is how the news directs people's attention and forms agendas. From Covid, the Southern border migration, Police shootings, Venezuala, Syria etc they're all multi-year ongoing problems but suddenly reach crises then a few days later you never hear again. The Media has so much power to influence what people care about.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#13Spoiler: He did not actually quit the news, just watching news on TV as opposed to reading articles.
>I’m mostly talking about following TV and internet newscasts here. This post isn’t an indictment of journalism as a whole. There’s a big difference between watching a half hour of CNN’s refugee crisis coverage (not that they cover it anymore) versus spending that time reading a 5,000-word article on the same topic.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#14I've uninstalled Facebook and stopped reading / watching the news. I read HN and a few local subreddits via RSS. I do feel much better mentally.
I would, however, like a way to be informed of breaking news. I tried a few apps but their idea of "breaking" news often involved celebrity gossip. I really only want to know if its MAJOR: war breaks out, aliens land and make contact, fusion is finally perfected and we're all no longer required to labor 40 hours a week.
My current solution is basically: if something major happens my wife tells me about it.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#15In light of the current situation in Europe I've thought of a rule of thumb I give people about media they consume.
If someone is painted as an enemy, and the information you're given makes their actions or motivations seem irrational, you're likely not being given all relevant information.
In the same vein as this article, I've also quit Twitter a year ago and it's been great. Pretty much the same effects also.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#16A good tip is read 1 week old newspapers. You quickly realize most of it is completely unnecessary for your long term knowledge.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#17I used to get so angry at Twitter.
Then I watched a Ricky Gervais interview where he compares tweets to graffiti. Einstein and a total idiot would tweet in the same font.
Now when I see a tweet I strongly disagree with, I get zero emotional involvement. It’s wonderful, but now Twitter seems almost pointless. Perhaps that is wonderful as well.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#18I think you also discover that a lot of things you assumed you believed in yourself were actually just other peoples' opinions, which you signed off on to because of the mere-exposure effect. Without hearing them chanted over and over, they stop being as self-evident as you thought they were.
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#19One caveat. Local news on TV can still be decent. It depends on the specific area though (big cities tend to drop a lot smaller stories). It can help you find out about stuff going on in your area that you wouldn't otherwise know about (unless your area also has a small newspaper).
Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)
#20At someone point in the last two years I stopped watching the news, because it was just an endless stream of useless information about COVID. I’m not sure I felt better, but it certainly saves some time. Point 3 is spot on, most of the commentators have no idea about what going to happen. At best their guesses a marginally better than my own. Once you realise this, watching debates between journalist and political co…
This is mostly what 6pm news was like, before the rise of 24 news channels.
Out of an hour of news, there was sports coverage in one quarter, local news in another with weather, national and then international news.
Each segment had, after commercials, 12 to 13 minutes max.
There wasn't time for all the speculation, and endless drone on about what if, and blah blah.
24 hours news half destroyed news first, then the internet finished it off.