What I’m Reading: Not News!
I’ve finally found a news article that confirms my personal bias that reading news does nothing but reinforce your confirmation bias. (Yeah deal with that meta-ness for a second.)
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli
It is bold move for a news site to publish an article advising you not to read the news. Good for The Guardian.
Before I worked in the news industry, I actively avoided the news. Then I became a Product Manager at Hearst Digital News and headlines were unavoidable. I immediately noticed the difference. Even when I tried not to pay too much attention – some information about a kid with cancer or a 3 legged puppy would accidentally worm its way into my brain and I’d be hit with sadness. I built up a bit of a callous of course (because being on the verge of tears every time your boss walks over to your desk isn’t exactly professional), but is that really the world we want to live in? Where we can no longer be shocked or affected by genocide or other crimes against humanity?
I went through a period of active news consumption in an effort to be educated and informed so that I could be a knowledgable world citizen. But the more I learned the more helpless and defeatist my attitude was towards being able to do anything to fight all the evils in the world. And so now I find myself again not consuming as much news so that I can keep a more positive view. However, I struggle with finding the balance of being an informed and aware citizen of the world, but without getting too overwhelmed with helplessness, apathy and callousness to suffering.
If you have any advice on how to find the right news media diet, please do share!