News fast. [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

flowerseverywhere

1-10-18, 8:54am

I only watch the evening news, and bbc. And not every day

cable news like CNN and FOX are opinion shows, with people shouting over each other and rudely interrupting bear little resemblance to real news. In a brief time you can separate them into two camps. Those who hate Trump and those who think he can do no wrong. Very little news that does not feed the ideas of whatever camp you are in. A bunch of fools masquerading as newscasters citing unnamed sources, theories and spreading rumors. Trump was a goldmine to them. His antics allow them to fill 24 hours of “breaking” news. They are in it to make money, not report factual news.

Cable news grows on you like cancer, spreading hate and discontent making you bitter and paranoid.

But you you can try to make a small difference every day and do some act of kindness. The large majority of people are kind and generous.

SteveinMN

1-10-18, 9:19am

I don't think anyone is handing out prizes for being unaware of one's surroundings. Like it or not, news reports what's happening around us and we should know about (most of) it. A complete fast? I'm not sure it's possible (how do you judge the veracity of what you will hear?).

That said, if opening a bag of potato chips results in the entire bag disappearing before you know it, then keeping bags of chips around is a bad idea -- especially if you're trying to diet.

Maybe the compromise is a small bag of chips. Or a more healthful snack.

Zoe Girl

1-10-18, 9:51am

I stopped watching the news during the OJ trial, i still know plenty about the world

iris lilies

1-10-18, 9:59am

I wish I could get away from the squawking box of radio in our house. i no longer read or even skim the newspaper (too bad because I miss a certain amount of local news) and I never watch tv news, I never have watched it.

But via radio I get actual national news in bits as well as scads of opinion-news.

For local news, DH clues me i when stuff happens and I will then read the specific article in our newspaper. Sometimes I skim headline news on the website of our local newspaper.

LDAHL

1-10-18, 10:01am

I stopped watching the news during the OJ trial, i still know plenty about the world

Absent news, what is the source of your plentiful knowledge?

Zoe Girl

1-10-18, 12:50pm

Absent news, what is the source of your plentiful knowledge?

I just don't watch TV news or listen to radio stations that are news heavy. I get too overwhelmed with my delicate, sensitive nature, LOL. I subscribe to lists, read recommended articles on Facebook actually (my FB friends are way more diverse than my in life friends), read topics on this site since it also more diverse than real life and usually someone tells me about the big stuff. When I lived in Cali and worked in a bank the other employees make sure I was up to date all the time! There was the missing pregnant wife situation in the state then, I could have actually known less about it.

LDAHL

1-10-18, 12:59pm

I just don't watch TV news or listen to radio stations that are news heavy. I get too overwhelmed with my delicate, sensitive nature, LOL. I subscribe to lists, read recommended articles on Facebook actually (my FB friends are way more diverse than my in life friends), read topics on this site since it also more diverse than real life and usually someone tells me about the big stuff. When I lived in Cali and worked in a bank the other employees make sure I was up to date all the time! There was the missing pregnant wife situation in the state then, I could have actually known less about it.

So you get your news though a sort of osmotic process filtered through secondary or indirect
sources?

Zoe Girl

1-10-18, 1:12pm

So you get your news though a sort of osmotic process filtered through secondary or indirect
sources?

Everything has a bias to begin with, so if I watch Fox news I will get a different story than NPR. I look at the source, it is click-bait from FB or a reliable source. I read news on our local news station website for example. That is hard to tell these days! So I read things from people I disagree with as well as ones that support my general views.

I know that the way news is presented can cause a lot of distress, so TV news is waaaay too much for me. However reading the same content in an article can be fine. TV and video is somehow very different, I can also read horror stories but not see them as movies.

In an urgent local matter I have a parent who works for our 7 news channel, she will tell me at pick up!

catherine

1-10-18, 1:22pm

So you get your news though a sort of osmotic process filtered through secondary or indirect
sources?

Don't we all? None of us met Deep Throat in a garage during Watergate. We trusted the Washington Post to interpret it. Of course, there are many who wouldn't trust the Washington Post as a secondary or indirect news source, because of the real or perceived bias it brings.

Face it, snarky comments aside, don't you agree that we all get various shades of grey on the truth, no matter what source we use? Not all of us have the time to read and synthesize multiple interpretations of what's going on in the world, so, yes, we self-select our own version of credible sources.

I had a writing professor who advised us that the best thing we could do to improve our writing was to read the paper every day without fail. And if we don't have time to read the paper, we should focus on the OpEd pages. I would expand that by saying you'd probably have to read OpEd pages in the NYT, WSJ, Christian Scientist Monitor, Al-Jazeera, and BBC to even start getting at the truth.

I support a TV news fast wholeheartedly.

Tradd

1-10-18, 2:14pm

I pay a lot of attention to the news. Never bothers me. Maybe it's because I actually was a reporter in the early 90s. Even in small-town Michigan, the more murder, rape, and mayhem made the job fun.

goldensmom

1-10-18, 3:02pm

I only watch the evening news, and bbc. And not every daycable news like CNN and FOX are opinion shows, with people shouting over each other and rudely interrupting bear little resemblance to real news. In a brief time you can separate them into two camps.......

That is exactly what I was thinking this morning at 2:00 while watching BBC International. Programs that purport to be ‘news’ are actually opinion shows. I did notice that some guests on BBC and sometimes the tone of voice used by the newscaster exhibits some bias but for the most part it’s ‘just the facts ma’am’. Our local news stations also reports just what happened and do not insert their opinions. For a time I listened to NPR and watched PBS news but soon realized they have ‘leanings’ too.

I don’t need a news fast I just need to be more discerning of what information I allow into my head.

LDAHL

1-10-18, 3:25pm

Everything has a bias to begin with, so if I watch Fox news I will get a different story than NPR. I look at the source, it is click-bait from FB or a reliable source. I read news on our local news station website for example. That is hard to tell these days! So I read things from people I disagree with as well as ones that support my general views.

I know that the way news is presented can cause a lot of distress, so TV news is waaaay too much for me. However reading the same content in an article can be fine. TV and video is somehow very different, I can also read horror stories but not see them as movies.

In an urgent local matter I have a parent who works for our 7 news channel, she will tell me at pick up!

I agree souces are biased, whether it’s the WaPo or a bartender That has been true since the evolution of language. I don’t see that any format is more distressing than any other.

Williamsmith

1-10-18, 8:09pm

I’m pretty sure Richard Proenneke never missed not reading the New York Times or worried about not catching the evening news. And he did pretty good for himself. I wholeheartedly endorse your news fast. Would you like me to contact you if we declare War on North Korea?

catherine

1-10-18, 8:11pm

jp1

1-10-18, 10:43pm

The happiest adult I've ever known was completely uninterested in the news/politics/etc. The only things she worried about were her daughter/family/friends. I was not especially interested in world events until 9/11 happened. I was unemployed at the time so I had a fair amount of time to be able to read lots of history and opinions about why it had happened. Red pill completely swallowed I can't really imagine going back to pre-911 jp.

SteveinMN

1-11-18, 11:56am

Programs that purport to be ‘news’ are actually opinion shows.
Fox Noise is really good at this: presenting themselves as a "fair and balanced" "news source" and then ducking behind the cover of "We're entertainment!" when their lack of journalistic integrity is pointed out. But they are not alone in this.

Our local news stations also reports just what happened and do not insert their opinions. For a time I listened to NPR and watched PBS news but soon realized they have ‘leanings’ too.
Opinions are being inserted all the time, whether or not what's being presented is labeled as "opinion". The selection of what is covered, how much space/time a report is given, its position in the paper/broadcast/site, even word choices in the report all present opinions. Leading a news report with a headline like "Muslims threaten job walkout if demands are not met" is different than burying "Muslim employees at local factory ask for time to pray during work" until just before the weather forecast. And neither report may be completely accurate.

I don’t need a news fast I just need to be more discerning of what information I allow into my head.
This. Unfortunately we no longer seem to teach people how to be discerning thinkers, to question sources and motives or even give some stories a quick smell test (Hilary Clinton abusing children at a Washington pizzeria? Which part of that was believable?).

BikingLady

1-11-18, 3:01pm

I have tried a few times and ""almost"" succeeded at News Fast. I am so much better. UL it does do good! If something really big "Boom"happens you will know. Other than that I feel that way too today I can't fix it, plus no one is really asking me too!

oldhat

1-11-18, 4:59pm

I've come to the conclusion that the real problem, and what really needs to be avoided for the sake of one's mental health, isn't the news per se but the commentariat. Chiefly TV cable news (Fox on the right, MSNBC on the left, CNN in the middle) and web sites devoted mostly to opinion pieces (Salon, Slate and the Huffington Post on the left, Breitbart and the Daily Caller on the right). Even though I'll admit I sometimes succumb to them (on the left mostly), I don't see that they contribute much to the quality of public discourse in this country. The 24-hour cable news cycle is downright destructive--they need to be in a lather about something all day, every day, which causes them to latch on to whatever will raise their viewers' hackles and drive ratings, which isn't the same as what the public needs to know (yes, that's elitist).

More and more, I'm trying to confine myself to reasonably reliable, mainly print, news sources (NYT, WaPo, Wall St. Journal [not the editorial page], the Economist, the Week). Watching cable news does not make you well-informed. It has the opposite effect.

rosarugosa

1-11-18, 7:08pm

I pay very little attention to the news. I scan online headline stuff for about 10 minutes per day. I'm relying on William Smith to let me know if we go to war. :)

jp1

1-11-18, 10:23pm

Personally I can understand the desire to not watch news/opinion but still be willing to read news/opinion. I find that my annoyance factor only goes over the top with tv news. Written articles just aren't able to trigger me the way video is. My job moved to a new office about 6 months ago and we now 1) don't have assigned cubes/offices and 2) have giant tv's on the walls all over the place tuned to CNN and MSNBC all day (with the volume turned down but closed captioning on). I can't focus on my work if any of the screens are in view so I choose my daily workspace accordingly.

I also remember reading in the months/years after 9/11 that research was showing that people who obsessively watched tv news after the attack were at a higher likelihood of exhibiting PTSD type symptoms than were people who mainly got their news from other sources. I didn't own a tv at that time so I didn't see more than little bits and pieces of tv reporting.

nswef

1-11-18, 10:40pm

ToomuchStuff

1-11-18, 11:20pm

Taking care of yourself and your depression should be job one. Do you really expect to come here for medical advice? (this would qualify as mental health I believe)

I will go through phases. Recently, work has been taking up enough time that I have missed the news. I missed a story about the first murder in my county, where a friend, who isn't a LEO, was the first one on scene and had one of the parties, die in his arms. That one was awkward when they needed to let off steam.
Other then that, news is a business. Freedom of the press, means you have freedom if you own the press. Everyone does have biases and the news realized the more they can drive things, the more they sell, then they charge advertisers more, and the cycle continues.

BikingLady

1-12-18, 6:57am

One of my son's suffers depression and I notice there is no news in his life. If I bring up an event he says something like "how's that affect you".

goldensmom

1-12-18, 7:54am

I despise the 24 hour news...foolishly I thought it would give news people time to delve into stories, find different stories but instead it's all noise. A further complaint is tv in every doctor's office waiting room, car service waiting room. It's everywhere and all I can think of is the scene in Farenheit 451 where media was blasting constantly...We're there!

The only reason I can see for 24 hr news stations is for those who have long or erratic work schedules. My husband, for example, leaves for work at 5:30 AM and gets home at 7:00-ish PM and goes to bed at 10:00 PM. His opportunity to watch TV news is limited.