Who doesn't read/watch the news?

[MOSAT]

I was a news junkie too, but I stopped watching network(s) and local news a few years ago. Haven't missed it. In fact, I think it has helped my overall disposition on life in general. I am continually surprised by our friends immersion in "the news" and social media. During our discussions of current topics, I'm often accused of being out of touch. I'm just not interested in what some infamous celebrity did to arouse attention.

Our friends suggested that now that we are ER we should at least know what is going on in our community and persuaded me to watch the local morning news with my coffee. I've been doing that for a few weeks, too long in my opinion, but I agreed to give it a fair assessment. All I can say is:

1) It's all the same crimes, drug busts, breakins, shootings. etc.
2) The after crime interviews are the "tornado variety". Find some disheveled individual and ask him/her if it sounded like a freight train.
3) The news talking heads all deliver the narrative in a breathless, urgent, shocked tone that I find disingenuous, irritating, and condescending.
4) You can replay the news commentary on a weekly loop with maybe slight modifications in sequence of delivery and nobody would notice.
5) I've lasted watching this long only because I find it a bit funny.

I'll give it a few more weeks to say I tried, but I'm done with it. I'll go back to being out of touch.

[capjak]

I get all my news from Facebook Memes

[Chuckanut]

The news media - ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, yes, even PBS - today are all poor shadows of what a quality, responsible news media should be.

They know very little about Economics and Math, and even less about Science and Religion.

Most of all they have a very inflated opinion of their own abilities. and importance.
[MOD EDIT]
I am with those who don't listen to the news.

[HFWR]

Don’t watch or listen. Was down to PBS New Hour, but have shut it off as well. Anyone on Facebook who spews noise gets hidden or unfriended.

I do have three news apps, upon which I glance to get a quick synapsis of the daily bullshite. That’s more than enough...

[Winemaker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Oh god, I can’t bear that part. How do you stand it?!?

To me it reinforces the fact that newscasters are biased and allows me to read between the lines. I like catching the lies and deceit.

Just like a headline that says "Low Interest Rates are Bad for Seniors". Well, they're good for the Seniors (and Juniors) that borrow money. Or a chart or graph that shows the "reported trend" but the graph is an entirely different monkey.

Back when my son was in high school playing on a winning team, the team members were always interviewed after the victory. One of the newspapers is within sight of the school, and the reporter couldn't even get a kid's name right 2 games in a row. Here are 10 kids, wanting to read about the "Big Game" and have their 15 minutes of glory, and the newspaper gives the wrong name, and quotes the wrong person. It severely alienated the students and parents, alerting them to sloppy and careless reporting, and inept editing.

[kcowan]

I like Fareed Zakaria GPS. Only CNN I watch.

Also watch Bill Maher, although he is now all-Trump every show!

Used to watch Bill O'Reilly on Fox once in a while. Now I have no reason to watch Fox.

I do like football once December arrives.

[Midpack]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/...n_6671732.html

Quote:

It’s nearly impossible to turn on the TV, open up a web browser, or scroll through Twitter without being assaulted with notifications of a new world disaster (or two, or three...). Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, alerts of shootings, plane crashes, ISIS beheadings, crime, war and human rights violations are constant — and this incessant news of violence and destruction may be messing with our heads. The world isn’t falling apart, but it can sure feel like it. The news can be violent, depressing and emotionally-charged.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...d-rolf-dobelli

Quote:

We are not rational enough to be exposed to the press. Watching an airplane crash on television is going to change your attitude toward that risk, regardless of its real probability. If you think you can compensate with the strength of your own inner contemplation, you are wrong. News is irrelevant. Out of the approximately 10,000 news stories you have read in the last 12 months, name one that – because you consumed it – allowed you to make a better decision about a serious matter affecting your life, your career or your business. The point is: the consumption of news is irrelevant to you. But people find it very difficult to recognise what's relevant. It's much easier to recognise what's new. The relevant versus the new is the fundamental battle of the current age. Media organisations want you to believe that news offers you some sort of a competitive advantage. Many fall for that. We get anxious when we're cut off from the flow of news. In reality, news consumption is a competitive disadvantage. The less news you consume, the bigger the advantage you have.

Quote:

News has no explanatory power. News items are bubbles popping on the surface of a deeper world. Will accumulating facts help you understand the world? Sadly, no. The relationship is inverted. The important stories are non-stories: slow, powerful movements that develop below journalists' radar but have a transforming effect. The more "news factoids" you digest, the less of the big picture you will understand. If more information leads to higher economic success, we'd expect journalists to be at the top of the pyramid. That's not the case. News is toxic to your body... News increases cognitive errors... News inhibits thinking... News works like a drug... News wastes time... News makes us passive... News kills creativity... Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too. I have now gone without news for four years, so I can see, feel and report the effects of this freedom first-hand: less disruption, less anxiety, deeper thinking, more time, more insights. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

[Midpack]

And the collective we is largely to blame? Newspapers, books and magazines (in depth articles), are dying off - while superficial sound byte TV, radio, social media and other online sources, even memes, are taking over...

No news is clearly NOT the answer, how to consume from today’s unchecked firehose of “news” is the question?

[FIREd]

We cut cable TV a while back, so we don’t have access to cable news networks. And we don’t watch local news. We don’t have satellite radio either. So no watching or listening to news ever. Yet I still manage to know what’s going on in the world somehow...

[Danmar]

Somebody must be watching this crap?

[Sue J]

I go through phases of watching the news and then avoiding the news. I like the local 6pm newscast, especially their weather folks. Lately, I’ve been recording Stephen Colbert and watching the show in the morning, when I can skip the commercials. I know his political leaning and I like his humor. No surprises there.

There are times when the news just makes me feel turmoil and disgust and I’ll avoid it on tv and the internet.

My 33 year old son enjoys Twitter and he follows and retweets things of interest - science, technology, nature, astronomy, music, etc and also politics. If I need a quick overview of what’s “important” I check what he is retweeting and linking. Good enough for me.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB I like the really beautiful young women they have on the news now. Each of them displays an abundance of secondary sex characterisitics and are perfectly groomed to draw attention. I like the news girls -

Try watching them with the audio muted and make believe they are talking to you! You will get a kick out of that.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar Somebody must be watching this crap?

Saw the Dish Network truck at the new neighbors. Satellite TV is still very popular in our 55+ neighborhood. We only do video streaming and internet, but I can tell from conversations that we are very much the exception. Old habits die hard I guess.

[Walt34]

I only watch TV news at the gym, and only while on the treadmill and elliptical because the screens are right in front of me. The sound is off and closed captioning is on. We get a local newspaper in part because they do try to emphasize the positive like some kid got a full scholarship or gets to go to one of the military academies.

I occasionally read news sources online, but only trusted ones like Drudge Report.

[harley]

I haven't watched the news on purpose for decades. If it's important you tend to find out right away anyway (9/11). I do tend to get information on important events through osmosis, and if it takes a few days to hear it that only means I'm probably getting more accurate information. The desire to collect eyeballs causes news entities to announce stories without any idea what's actually happened/happening. I can honestly say that missing the news has not caused me a single problem in all this time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I only watch TV news at the gym, and only while on the treadmill and elliptical because the screens are right in front of me. The sound is off and closed captioning is on.

I have a gizmo that is a universal remote for TVs, and back when I went to a gym I would use it to turn off the TV in front of the machine I was using. I also use it to turn off TVs in doctor's offices and places like that. Sometimes I just turn the volume down, but if it's news it gets turned off.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley I haven't watched the news on purpose for decades. If it's important you tend to find out right away anyway (9/11). I do tend to get information on important events through osmosis, and if it takes a few days to hear it that only means I'm probably getting more accurate information. The desire to collect eyeballs causes news entities to announce stories without any idea what's actually happened/happening. I can honestly say that missing the news has not caused me a single problem in all this time. I have a gizmo that is a universal remote for TVs, and back when I went to a gym I would use it to turn off the TV in front of the machine I was using. I also use it to turn off TVs in doctor's offices and places like that. Sometimes I just turn the volume down, but if it's news it gets turned off.

Wow I like your gizmo! Have to tell DH.

Yep - after a couple of days information is far more accurate. The immediate reporting is usually just gibberish and way off. So it’s great to miss that part. Breaking news....... - yep, usually the news is broken and takes time to be repaired.

[flintnational]

I read Sapiens this year. IIRC, the author makes the point humans spent a great deal of history in small tribal groups, 25 - 50 people. He goes on to suggest we are overwhelmed in a global world where we have access to news about 7 billion people. My take away was, worry about the 25 - 50 people in your immediate circle and try and eliminate the noise (AKA News).

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Wow I like your gizmo! Have to tell DH. Yep - after a couple of days information is far more accurate. The immediate reporting is usually just gibberish and way off. So it’s great to miss that part. Breaking news....... - yep, usually the news is broken and takes time to be repaired.

Not currently available, it appears, but here it is - Micro Spy Remote | ThinkGeek

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I occasionally read news sources online, but only trusted ones like Drudge Report.

The Onion! :-p

Turns out the truth IS stranger than fiction...

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational I read Sapiens this year. IIRC, the author makes the point humans spent a great deal of history in small tribal groups, 25 - 50 people. He goes on to suggest we are overwhelmed in a global world where we have access to news about 7 billion people. My take away was, worry about the 25 - 50 people in your immediate circle and try and eliminate the noise (AKA News).

Thanks for the tip on the book. It looks like an interesting read.