I limit myself to listening to NPRs 15 minute "up first" and on occasion the daily from the nyt. That's what I keep it limited to and it makes me feel informed without the anxiety if the 24 hour news cycle.
Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
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Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#22I like to try and get a sense each day of what is happening in our dystopia.
I start with mainstream news first thing in the morning to see the prevailing narrative / propaganda people are being fed.
From there I go to broadsheet left and non-loony right-wing sources to find alternative perspectives.
I enjoy critical thinking amd take everything pretty lightly, so I don't really get too upset about stuff. Life and relationships are far more important.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#23Being uninformed is the best thing I've ever done for my life. You too can have this for the low low price of $0.00 and for a limited time you also get more time than you can imagine.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#24Not stopped, but shifted sources. A lot of standard media is a rehash of what you can get to directly these days. For example I can follow any number of reporters on the ground in Ukraine and analysts they retweet. Why would I read the same thing in a word-limited article 3 days later?
There are some exceptions of course, like the long form articles in the Atlantic for example.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#25I stopped watching and reading the news about 6 years ago. I’ve never felt better. It always put me in this negative feel bad headspace.
The content I consume now is HN, Reddit, and direct sources of things I find interesting or want to learn more about. I stopped Twitter within the last two years because it was too much, “let me tell you why X, click thread below for 5 reasons”.
I’ve been told I’m ignorant or that it’s embarrassing that I don’t know about current events but honestly I don’t really care and it feels great. I’m able to focus on what I really care about and be in a positive headspace.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#26It depends on how you react to the news.
When the pandemic came around, as an avid reader of news my family managed to accumulate large amounts of N95 masks, toilet paper, bottled water, and ordered work from home equipment early. Beat the rush and many had to wait for those things.
News of the tech layoffs, well, I make sure to refresh my network periodically is what I will say.
News of the problems with air travel made me look more closely at various priority programs at airports so I would not be caught up in them.
All manner of little government programs have been useful to me at one point in my life or another and I have mostly learned about those through the news.
I will often donate to causes I learn about in the news.
I wish I had the time to consume more.
To me the idea of cutting out news for one's mental health would be like ignoring medical problems to avoid having to think about them. Refusing to know about something doesn't change the world.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#27Yes, I've stopped consuming most daily/live news. Once a week (Sunday), I'll read current events articles or research a subject heard in passing.
Focused time is the key - I try not to idly scroll through news/information.
I don't think it's ill-uninformed to be choosy about your attention. Most "news" is written to move ad inventory, not inform you.
I think Gen Z is especially keen on "information diet" being as important as physical diet/health. Met a 22 year-old who was rocking a flip phone like the one I had as a teenager (20 years ago).
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#28No post body was provided.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#29My wife kind of did this for awhile and it left her feeling uninformed when hanging out with friends. One friend would mention something and everyone would be like "ah, yes, that thing" and she would be like "what??? that's happening??".
I definitely agree that news is addicting and a waste of time but I do like to be in the loop.
Re: Ask HN: Have you stopped reading most news?
#30I’ve found that text.npr.org is really good for me. They don’t have pagination, only a handful of new articles a day, and no images. The lack of images really helps with some graphic stories being less emotionally impactful. Other than that, I just check hackernews.