I’ve been on a “news diet” for several years now. This practice has come to mind again with all the turmoil and world events, which can seem quite overwhelming.
We used to live in a world where news was delivered by newspaper once a day, and nightly TV news. Then in the 1980s that changed to 24 hour news channels (that needed content to fill). That expanded, and expanded again as different competitors joined the options. That was overwhelming even then.
And then things radically changed with social media becoming the prime news source for most people. A constant barrage of outrage and “doom scrolling”. Not curated by editors, but by algorithms, engineered to keep you engaged the maximum amount of time.
I don’t use social media, and consume my world news once per day. I like to read my 2 local newspapers, on their websites. I’ll browse and read articles of interest to me. I do it in one go, and then never return until the next day.
I began to compare this with the image of a “1950s dad” reading their morning newspaper before going to work. It’s a powerful image, because it was so ubiquitous. That dad would read the paper, and then go about his day without further interruption.
Just like that 50s dad, I feel informed. I’m not sticking my head in the sand pretending anything isn’t happening. However, I only need a single daily review of war, pandemic, climate crisis, political unrest, and whatever else is in that day’s news. I also go out of my way to not have my current events curated by algorithm. If there’s “breaking” news, it’ll wait until my next morning read.
This doesn’t prevent me from knowing what is happening or having feelings about it. I was moved to make a charitable donation to the Red Cross to help with humanitarian efforts in the Ukraine. I feel like I’m an informed voter, in all levels of government.
And then I go onto my real work. I know that the world is best served by the most powerful version of me. I focus on the things I have control over. I focus on innovation, creation, and optimism. Letting myself feel overwhelmed means I do less of that, and that serves no one.
Someone might say to me I am privileged to be able to do that. Maybe so. However, there was once a time when 24/7 doom scrolling wasn’t a thing. All I’m suggesting is to ask yourself if you’re doing it because you are best served by it, or doing it because you never considered not doing it? What level of world news do you actually need to remain informed?
Who benefits from you being the strongest version of yourself?
