Stopped Watching the News and I Feel Better

[MichaelB]

<mod note> Probabky a good idea if we avoid getting naming specific soirces. This discussion isn’t about which source is preferable or reliable.

 

[skyking1]

I get most of my news from these forums.

That is totally legit. You folks are fine filters. Love ya!
If somebody's a classic Eeyore, I count on them for the Eeyore news.
I go to Pollyanna for my dose of Pollyanna news.

 

[Sorcerer]

Let's be real, everyone gets their news from doom scrolling all day.

I haven't paid for cable for a couple years now. Everything is online now, on every platform...whether you want to see it or not.

 

[audreyh1]

Ah yes, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. Had to look up the name again.

Basically it is when you see a news story on a topic that you are expert in and realize that the reporter is clueless. The rational conclusion is that is likely the case for most news stories. The amnesia effect is turning the page and believing what you read on other topics.

A new one for me! Coined by Michael Crichton no less.

The Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is the tendency for people to trust news media on unfamiliar topics, despite recognizing that the same media outlets produce inaccurate or superficial reports on subjects they know well. Coined by author Michael Crichton in 2002 to describe this cognitive dissonance, the term suggests that individuals "forget" the unreliability of a source when turning the page.

• Origin: Named by Michael Crichton, referencing Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, who experienced this phenomenon frequently.

 

[MichaelB]

Ah yes, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. Had to look up the name again.

Basically it is when you see a news story on a topic that you are expert in and realize that the reporter is clueless. The rational conclusion is that is likely the case for most news stories. The amnesia effect is turning the page and believing what you read on other topics.

I’ve experienced a similar experience with expert reviews (Consumer Report, Wirecutter) on things I know more a bit more than the average person. I didn’t know this had a name, but thanks for enlightening us.

 

[thenameiwish]

It's been my experience that people search for the news they want to believe and are unable to ignore their personal biases. It explains why editors keep pushing the same tripe with the same errors over and over again. Once my frontal lobe developed it was easy to see through the message.

 

[steakis4closers]

Glad that day hasn't happened for you. Hope it doesn't for any of us. But for some it has already. For others it certainly will.

And of course, not trying get you to change anything.

Tbh crazy as it is to say

One thing I'm finding is that if I seek out experts on topics which interest me, they usually report on "news" that affects their field. And they generally have a much less sensationalist, and more nuanced, take on the story.

I can go almost completely news-free this way. Say I check a financial site to see how my 401k is doing. If the politicians did something stupid (or good) economically, it will be reflected there. Everything I know about the Strait of Hormuz conflict comes from a shipping channel I follow. The list goes on.

The trick is not to get sucked into AI Slop. Pick any interesting topic, and there are 1,000 YouTube videos of AI-generated voice reading AI-generated scripts behind AI-generated graphics. Learn to recognize and avoid them. Find names of real people you can trust, and watch their actual channel, not a fake. Read text sources you trust.

That's a cool approach I think. Unique

 

[steakis4closers]

Interesting comment. I also was involved first hand with a news event and saw how it was reported later. Opened my eyes as well.

Same here. Awful news orgs

 

[steakis4closers]

Let's be real, everyone gets their news from doom scrolling all day.

I haven't paid for cable for a couple years now. Everything is online now, on every platform...whether you want to see it or not.

Yes! I've had to cut 9gag, reddit, Facebook ect. YouTube let me curate all politics out basically so I kept it. Lol just down to like 3 websites because otherwise I can't avoid the news.

 

[RxMan]

I haven’t watched a full news broadcast since 9/11. Haven’t missed it even a little.

 

[Spock]

I watch the local Tucson news and weather most early mornings for about ten minutes (until I get the weather) but haven’t watched tv national news for decades. I do scan a couple of online newspapers over breakfast.

I lived in Tucson for 30 years.
I can forecast your weather for the next 30 years: "Sunny and Hot" with a derivative of "Monsoon starts on July 4".

 

[Spock]

 

[Out of Steam]

I haven’t watched a full news broadcast since 9/11. Haven’t missed it even a little.

After spending large amounts of time with my late mother watching cable TV news during her several years of being housebound, I haven't been able to do it at all since.

 

[COcheesehead]

After spending large amounts of time with my late mother watching cable TV news during her several years of being housebound, I haven't been able to do it at all since.

Why does that seem to be the norm? Days at my in-laws meant a TV turned up loud to a news channel…all day.
I just spent a few days with my oldest sister and she has now developed the habit too.

There has got to be something behind it.

 

[katwillny]

I stopped watching the news early in 2020 when there was a daily 5pm readings of the day's death toll. Became too much. I now only watch the local weather report. Sports are not my cup of tea any longer. I watch some market related news but even that has its sensational tone. My life is leaner now that my mind is not occupied with things that arent important to ME.

 

[GrayHare]

Simon & Garfunkel might now sing, "Where have you gone, Walter Cronkite?"

 

[Out of Steam]

Why does that seem to be the norm? Days at my in-laws meant a TV turned up loud to a news channel…all day.
I just spent a few days with my oldest sister and she has now developed the habit too.

There has got to be something behind it.

I don't get it, but perhaps it gives them a feeling of still being engaged with the world when they can't be otherwise.

 

[Sue J]

I go through phases. Sometimes I'll watch an overview and find a story I'm interested in and follow it for a while. Then I'll find I need a time away from all the ugly/biased/overhyped garbage that's reported and just live without the noise.

Locally, there are just too many dead bodies, house explosions, gun tragedies, etc being reported. I watch or read the local news mostly for the weather forecasts and just generally being aware of my area.

When I'm on a break from the news my son (41) will text me if there's something I need to know.

DH watches a lot of political shows and YouTube videos. We lean along the same lines politically but I don't want to talk about it all the time!

 

[Zathras]

I limit my news.
What really improved my mental health is when I quit Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

 

[COcheesehead]

^^^you’re on social media

 

[Pointby2]

What really improved my mental health is when I quit Facebook, Twitter and other social media

What helped my mental health is when I stopped following my extremely political family members on social media.

 

[Koolau]

Ah yes, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. Had to look up the name again.

Basically it is when you see a news story on a topic that you are expert in and realize that the reporter is clueless. The rational conclusion is that is likely the case for most news stories. The amnesia effect is turning the page and believing what you read on other topics.

Yeah, I have had several opportunities to determine that the news is about "product" not truth. Some of these opportunities were as someone mentioned "Personal" (in my case, with a microphone stuck in my face and someone asking "How do you feel about so-and-so-and-such-and-such-who-is-doing-thus-and-so?").

 

[FD1000]

I watch outlets from different perspectives and make a point of identifying bias and misleading narratives.
It doesn't bother me or change my mood.

 

[Koolau]

I watch outlets from different perspectives and make a point of identifying bias and misleading narratives.
It doesn't bother me or change my mood.

I admire your "cool." My BS detector is pretty good and it bothers me that it seems to go off on most "stories." Bias bothers me more than simple inaccuracy.

 

[TheWizard]

I watch outlets from different perspectives and make a point of identifying bias and misleading narratives.
It doesn't bother me or change my mood.

Good point.
Some folks might assume if I watch a certain cable news channel that I agree with their political bent.
Not necessarily.
I watch practically all the cable news channels on and off to better understand the landscape...