Not Following the News

[TromboneAl]

My sister doesn't follow the news. She'll be like "Zika? What's that?"

I've been a news junkie for years, with Android apps like News360, SmartNews, etc. We've watched the Tivo'd NBC Nightly News every night, and sometimes "Fluff Surf*" the CBS and ABC news as well (we understand that the network news is 90% entertainment designed to make you watch the commercials).

I'm wondering whether my sister's choice is better. Lots of news is annoying (e.g. "... and be sure to eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits") and most is not relevant.

Here are some articles that suggest that no news is good news:

https://www.perrymarshall.com/27872/dont-watch-the-news/

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

Do any of you avoid the news?

*Fluff Surf = watch segments on things like water-skiing squirrels

 

[Choices]

I am on " low news diet" at least until mid Dec. need a month off. Have not listened to my car radio in years. It all makes me very anxious

 

[Carpediem]

I've lost all confidence in the media so I'm thinking about going the 'no news' route personally.

 

[audreyh1]

News is very annoying and worse - far to anxiety provoking about things one can do absolutely nothing about. We are on a low news diet and certainly don't watch any broadcast or radio news. But we still know all about Zika.

Enough news just filters into the edge of our awareness that we can pursue the topic if something significant comes up - like Zika.

DH has some news feed that he picks up stories and reads if he wants. I have Facebook "friends" who share stuff on my feed, but most of it I remove ("don't show this"). Quite a bit of news is posted on this forum - like about Gwen Ifill, I didn't hear it anywhere else.

 

[GrayHare]

I scan headlines online daily, but read only a few complete reports. Bad use of statistics, bad writing, and slanted stories turned me away from more regular news consumption. These days any significant news probably gets it own topic at this board, where for the most part it is discussed intelligently.

 

[exnavynuke]

I watch CNBC periodically, but otherwise I get none of my news from television news broadcasts on a regular basis (I'll turn it on for inclement weather/storm coverage in rare circumstances). I get my news from skimming headlines through online sources (reputable, by my standards) and only clicking on stories that look like they'll be both interesting and relevant to me.

 

[easysurfer]

Seems in today's news it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between news and entertainment. For mornings, I watch CBS This Morning. For evening news, I watch NBC Nightly News. I usually only watch local news to follow sports teams. With all, I retain the right to fast forward as I time shift with a DVR.

News over the internet is more of a challenge as seems during the past [-]reality show[/-] election, sites like CNN, USA Today which I used to consider an just news went the entertainment route (though I still read USA Today on my smartphone). The unbiased site I read to keep my sanity is Reuters (doesn't make me feel like I'm reading People Magazine or TMZ).

Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters

Oh and don't get me started on the news feeds on FB .

 

[Nemo2]

If you don't follow the news, how do you hope to be misinformed?

 

[JoeWras]

If you don't follow the news, do not try to fill it with news from your Facebook friends.

As DW says, "I can't unsee that." She is now angry at friends for what they posted. DW has never been an angry person. But too much news and Facebook became poison for her.

She's now in News/FB detox.

 

[easysurfer]

If you don't follow the news, do not try to fill it with news from your Facebook friends.

As DW says, "I can't unsee that." She is now angry at friends for what they posted. DW has never been an angry person. But too much news and Facebook became poison for her.

She's now in News/FB detox.

I like the sound of that "News/FB detox".

 

[FUEGO]

I signed up for The Economist emails sent out daily. It's a concise set of 3-5 headlines with a paragraph summarizing the gist of the article. I usually click on 0-2 articles and read more in depth. That's my main source of news other than scrolling through my facebook feed (which tends to show me stuff my friends are interested in that I might also like, local stuff, and stuff I've liked in the past).

I feel like "watching the news" or reading the newspaper is a big waste of time in the sense that's it takes a long time to find highly relevant information. The other downside is a low quantity of cat videos, which I love.

 

[RetireAge50]

Zika has something to do with a mosquito or something right? By the way does anybody know who won the election? I do know what my portfolio balance is though and I make sure to read the rules of all the board games I play.

 

[Another Reader]

If you don't follow the news, how do you hope to be misinformed?

Uninformed or misinformed, no information or bad information, whatever. I cut cable a couple of years ago, the only long term positive thing to come out of reading the forums and posts at the MMM site. The "low information diet" to me means being very selective about choosing news "calories."

 

[Nemo2]

Zika has something to do with a mosquito or something right?

Oh, oh...I thought it was one of those exercise/dance routines.

 

[NW-Bound]

I do not avoid the news, but rarely seek it out either. As Audrey said, I still get enough of it just from the headlines from Web surfing to keep me up-to-date. And yes, I would click and read the rest of an article if it sounded interesting.

It's been decades since I watched the news on TV. I used to get the local paper, but stopped subscribing some years ago. I used to get the news on weekly magazines like Time and Business Week. Now it is only the Web. I know there are two sides to any story, so if something sounded outrageous, I would double check before I believed it.

A problem with the way I get the news is that I get almost no local news and only things of national or world-wide interests. And so, I am detached from the town I live in, and that's not good.

PS. About Gwen Ifill, I saw the thread, and asked myself who she was. Searched the Web, saw her photo, and of course I remember seeing her. That tells you how much TV I watch.

 

[Music Lover]

If you don't follow the news, how do you hope to be misinformed?

For those of us who can see through the bias, misinformation, and lies, watching a small dose of news every now and then can provide insight into how others are being misinformed.

 

[NW-Bound]

When talking to people in my extended family, occasionally I would run across someone who was truly misinformed, and I would feel obligated to point it out.

But quite often, people were not misinformed but had a different take on the same event, or facts. That made me think about why or how they felt that way. I still did not agree with them, but people never felt the same way about anything. What do I do?

 

[Beldar]

I sometimes enjoy watching foreign (non-US) news broadcasts on the Roku. It's interesting to see the same issue / subject presented in a non-biased , heavily edited fashion. Very little, if none, of the sensationalism and news-presenter personality cult.

The foreign impression(s) of US life can be rather intriguing, like the Finnish spin on American politics & behavior in the movie "Iron Sky".

_B

 

[DrRoy]

I tune out daily market news because it's pointless, and also did so over the last month on the election for the same reason. In general though, I follow the news.

 

[mpeirce]

Do any of you avoid the news?

I'm the opposite. I enjoy seeking out new sources local, national and international. I'd call it a hobby.

Locally I watch two local TV newscasts. The 6PM news - it's only 15 minutes since I turn it off after the weather (at 6:15) so I can skip the sports. The 10PM news (on another channel) is likewise brief since I usually fall asleep soon after turning it on. That, and the local daily paper and weekly suburban paper keeps me up on the local mafia (i.e. the Columbus city government) and what businesses are opening or closing.

For international its challenging. I've been listening to a couple of radio stations located overseas (via the TuneIn app). It's fascinating how they view the US - they really have no clue how the USA works. And it provides me some view into how they operate.

The big challenge for international insight is that I only speak/read english. So I focus on the anglosphere and english language versions. This obviously skews a certain way, but oh well.

For national news, there are so many many options. The key is figuring out their perspective and factoring that in. And they all do have a perspective. I can stomach about 2/3 sites that skew in my direction, and 1/3 sites from the opposition. Sometimes less when things get hyperpartisan like around elections.

Oh, I almost never watch the national TV news, they have too much air time to fill and so much fluff gets mixed in. Unless there is some breaking news.

 

[travelover]

..........Do any of you avoid the news?.............

I only go to news sites that reinforce my preconceived ideas. It feels so good to hear how smart I am.

 

[NW-Bound]

I only go to news sites that reinforce my preconceived ideas. It feels so good to hear how smart I am.

I guess you also hang out on Facebook with people who agree with you.

 

[NW-Bound]

... For international its challenging. I've been listening to a couple of radio stations located overseas (via the TuneIn app). It's fascinating how they view the US - they really have no clue how the USA works. And it provides me some view into how they operate.

The big challenge for international insight is that I only speak/read english. So I focus on the anglosphere and english language versions. This obviously skews a certain way, but oh well...

If you know a foreign language, in some countries, it would be interesting to see how the lack of the freedom of the press biases their reporting. People in the truly free world never understand this. When the government controls the media, people keep hearing and reading the same thing day in day out, and it soaks into them.

 

[meierlde]

To boot now days much of news is really crystal ball gazing into cracked and dirty and cloudy crystal balls. I.E. this might happen ... And then the fax debates between sides on cable news to present an image of fairness. I wish there were a just the facts that have happened channel with no analysis attached.

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, even with facts and no commentaries, a media channel can still bias by reporting the truth, but not the whole truth.

It's not easy.