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Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

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Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#351

Post by ethbr0 »

yojo wrote: post #186
petemcc wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've done exactly the same thing. Grew tired mid pandemic Y1 of the constant drone and misinformation, just a continuation of how it had been going already. Print and digital sub to the Economist and then "banned" myself from reading 24hr/live news sites. Has been interesting to see how many real life conversations I've been in ~18m in where I've been (anecdotally) better informed, or able to add colour (the recent e…

I've definitely noticed having more background knowledge on major events. My wife still takes all her news digitally (mostly NYT), and I'm able to add a lot of color to her understanding of events when we talk through news of the day. What's actually really surprising to me is how "not behind" my information normally is. I work my way through an issue over breakfasts and evenings in the course of the week, so my info…

The context seems to age fairly well. So even if you're not current, you're only missing that most recent piece.

Vs online journalism doesn't seem to have the skill, or make the effort, to effectively set the news of the day in a well-summarized background.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#352

Post by webkike »

rurp wrote: post #336
mattlondon wrote: post #317

There are things that happen in the news that may affect your day to day life. Apart from the obvious things such as covid, there are a lot of things going on all the time that may influence your voting decisions (not just in the run up, but the entire time someone is in office), purchasing decisions, where you go on vacation, who you want to work for, how you get to work today etc. I guess if that is fine for you, t…

> feel free to carry on and go book your vacation to the Ukraine, drive a Volkswagen, work for facebook... These could all be researched at the time of purchase though. There's nothing in the daily news about VW or Ukraine that can't be learned more efficiently by doing some research just before purchasing a vehicle or vacation. There's nothing wrong with keeping tabs on the latest headlines, I personally do so and a…

The post lists several other things along with those examples that I think DO make it essential:

> use too much water during a drought season, have your garden furniture blow through your windows when that storm rolls in, have a BBQ during a high-risk fire season

If you’re going to check if there’s a drought every time you use water - congratulations, you’re reading the news!

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#353

Post by swdunlop »

yojo wrote: post #54
macksd wrote: post #4

I fully agree with this. Scanning Google News or a couple of the more professional international news services like BBC / Al Jazeera / Reuters I still feel pretty well informed (and confident that there's usually nothing of immediate consequence to me) but it doesn't grow into "expert analysis" or impact my feelings much. Here's another thing I noticed: how manipulated / manipulative it is. And not just news and I do…

I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity when it comes to news. Google News has gotten increasingly annoying though, forcing me harder toward the "personalized" results, the kind of filter bubble I'm intentionally trying to avoid. What worked well for me was getting a print subscription to the Economist. They definitely have a bias (particularly in their editorials), but it's mostly of the "free trade" variety, w…

You can also get a non-customized version without resorting to dead trees -- the Economist is also published on Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/The-Economist-US-Edition/dp/B0027VSU9...

This trick probably works for other periodicals with a shady-as-hell internet filter bubble "feature."

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#354

Post by timq »

macksd wrote: post #4

I fully agree with this. Scanning Google News or a couple of the more professional international news services like BBC / Al Jazeera / Reuters I still feel pretty well informed (and confident that there's usually nothing of immediate consequence to me) but it doesn't grow into "expert analysis" or impact my feelings much. Here's another thing I noticed: how manipulated / manipulative it is. And not just news and I do…

In 2016 Google News was great because with a 5 minutes glance you coudl hved all the necessary news. However this strategy doesn't work anymore thanks to Google News trying to be smart by adapting news to your browsing history.

I haven't been able to find a good alternative to the old Google News.

I tried subscribing to one or many newspapers, but they all have too many useless articles inbetween valuable news such that filtering noise takes too much time.

So in the end I still read Google News but I'm getting a sens of negativity and frustration that wasn't there in 2016. And it takes more time to have all the necessary news. Since "Time spent on Google News" is probably an important metric for Google, the situation is not going to improve anytime soon.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#355

Post by pklausler »

ff317 wrote: post #296
yojo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity when it comes to news. Google News has gotten increasingly annoying though, forcing me harder toward the "personalized" results, the kind of filter bubble I'm intentionally trying to avoid. What worked well for me was getting a print subscription to the Economist. They definitely have a bias (particularly in their editorials), but it's mostly of the "free trade" variety, w…

My personal favorite recommendation in this vein is The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ . They've got some great writers and editors and often deliver pretty unique insights. Their articles tend towards long-ish-form, but not nearly as long as e.g. the New Yorker. They're a little less world-focused and more US-centric, but not completely. There is some bias (isn't there always?), but I've seen them cover a si…

I loved the Atlantic until they started sponsoring "happiness" seminars with Deepak Chopra.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#356

Post by burlesona »

I think this problem must be ancient. As Mark Twain said, “If you don’t read the news, you’re uninformed. If you do read the news, you’re misinformed.”

As far as I can tell the only balance is to read the news with deep skepticism, more as a way to know “what people are talking about” than what really happened.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#357

Post by martinflack »

jknoepfler wrote: post #326
temp8964 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea what you are talking about. There is not a definitive / clear line between classical liberal and libertarian. The comment seems to be unnecessarily divisive and seeking for flame war.

I'm puzzled by that reaction. In my head at least, the distinction is pretty deep, and describing The Economist as "libertarian" in any sense would be clearly misplaced, other than to say it sometimes supports positions libertarians also agree with. Historically, when The Economist was founded, libertarianism would have been associated with French anarchism. The core, consistent theme of libertarianism is that indivi…

I'm not the person you answered but I find your comment well put. Do you have further reading on this distinction?

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#358

Post by madhadron »

asdff wrote: post #310
ppeetteerr wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that it's difficult. I am very selective with friends and it takes months if not years to find a new friend. However, when one is found, they are a friend for life. > What is your reading list and hours per week spent? It's a combination of local (municipal, state) and national/international news. Local is easy and tends to be very factual. If you're in the US, there are a lot of smaller publication that repo…

Do you have advice on finding more resources for local news? It seems my local sources are just as biased as the national ones, and most pieces read like puff pieces to prop up political careers, hit pieces (my local news transportation writer loves to bash cal hsr), or downright advertisements just like the junk from the national outlets. A lot of local stuff that does sometimes directly impact me doesn't even seem…

This is an interesting point. In Seattle we're lucky enough to have The Stranger. They are crass and funded by escort and pot ads, but they are very much in your face about their editorial bias and they cover only the city of Seattle.

Their coverage on local political candidates is considered the gold standard in the area. If you want to run, you will show up for the Stranger's inquisition, and god help you if you start spewing platitudes. Their elections board has no interest in being polite to you, even if they like you.

My wife is heavily involved in local politics, so we know what's going on via that gossip network. The truth is that the forces in place change very slowly. The homeless problem in Seattle? Same systemic problems it's been for a long time. Who's driving the zoning decisions in Bellevue? Same couple of developers who have a chokehold on downtown. Puget Sound Energy's ongoing poor engineering and amazing propoganda? Completely rational actors with a fixed playbook. I could write a briefing on these topics that would still be good in six months or a year.

For topics that require action on your part? By the time the news is covering it, the decisions have been made. Crazy racists running for Bellevue school board? You hear about them in the news when someone has already FOIA'd their emails and found a news outlet to publish them. Action happens via local groups, either your political party or cells of Indivisible or PTSA's or specialized action groups like CENSE. If you want to know what's going on, you need to subscribe to the newsletters of these groups.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#359

Post by MBCook »

ROTMetro wrote: post #347
MBCook wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to think of it have you considered writing an article about this? You have a very unique perspective since most people experienced it as it happed (proverbial frog in the boiling pot). I bet a number of outlets might be interested in publishing it, or you could DIY on Medium or Substack or something.

Yeah no. Already have a heavy load and my life is already F'd enough, I can't be putting any more rocks into my load by amplifying attention on me in any way thanks. Plus a guy six months out still has a lot of mental issues, not back to being human yet :) A year living in a space smaller than an elevator with another person, a bunk bed, and desk with no out time because COVID doesn't help. On the plus side when you…

I understand. Thanks for what you posted above.

Re: Things you notice when you quit the news (2016)

#360

Post by gopher_space »

Melatonic wrote: post #235
macksd wrote: post #4

I fully agree with this. Scanning Google News or a couple of the more professional international news services like BBC / Al Jazeera / Reuters I still feel pretty well informed (and confident that there's usually nothing of immediate consequence to me) but it doesn't grow into "expert analysis" or impact my feelings much. Here's another thing I noticed: how manipulated / manipulative it is. And not just news and I do…

Family member of mine wanted to turn on TV news the morning of Thanksgiving just to get an update on "the weather". The immediate and visceral negative reaction of everyone under the age of approximately 40 was pretty hilarious. After not having cable for 10+ years broadcast news just feels like an incredibly arduous waste of time compared to what I can read in just a few minutes. I started subscribing to a fairly la…

The newspaper makes a ton of money off of those inserts and agreements about them happen at the top of the org chart. Nobody you can reach has any power here. In addition, if their support was young enough they'd have no idea what you're talking about.

"That crazy guy who thinks there's a conspiracy to print off ads and put them in his mailbox called again today!"

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