6 ms·

How the News Took over Reality

60 points by ytNumbers 7y ago

katzgrau 7y ago
> We marinate in the news. We may be familiar with the headlines before we have exchanged a word with another human in the morning; we kill time on the bus or in queues by checking Twitter, only to find ourselves plunged into the dramas of presidential politics or humanitarian emergencies. By one estimate, 70% of us take our news-delivery devices to bed with us at night. Some people do this. And I'm guilty of having been one of them. But I realized that the constant negative news cycle started to shape my outlook on the world around me. Earlier this year I decided that the cycle of indulging in consumption of (usually negative) news, worrying about it, and then repeating is a waste of time and probably takes away from who I am rather than adding anything of real value. I don't check Twitter, I trying to avoid Facebook. I don't even watch my favorite late night talk show hosts (sorry Colbert). I've replaced them with audiobooks and podcasts. I am significantly happier for it. And minor anxieties I had that were unrelated to current events seem to have gone away too.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- melicerte 7y ago
  Do you realize that you are posting your comment on a website having the word « news » in its name ? Just saying :)
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - reificator 7y ago
    I'm in a similar boat. The reason I visit hn is because it's typically technical news. Other news stories do make it to the front page occasionally, but they're normally big stories or tangentially related to tech. That's a trade-off I'm willing to make.
  - katzgrau 7y ago
    Yes, although the things that fall within the scope of what HN considers to be newsworthy generally don't present the problems that I have with mainstream news.
- everdev 7y ago
  Same. It was a hard pill to swallow because I took a lot of pride in being "informed". But, at the end of the day you're along for the ride. I figured it makes the most sense to stay current about news that is relevant to my career and hobbies and skip the rest.
- ChuckMcM 7y ago
  Same. Structured news consumption to keep in the loop off what is going on.
- nugget 7y ago
  Weren't these patterns the same in the era of news delivered via newspaper? In old movies, the family reads the newspaper at the breakfast table, and in old photographs, everybody on the bus had a newspaper in their hands.
growlist 7y ago
Without even reading it I think I can predict the unspoken intent of the article: anything that undermines our suppression of opposing viewpoints must itself be suppressed. Off to check.. Yep that's pretty much the gist of it.
- high_derivative 7y ago
  While I enjoy reading some of the political reporting on Brexit on the guardian, they are amongst the least balanced newspapers on general societal and cultural issues.
  - gameswithgo 7y ago
    what does balanced mean to people who comment on the lack of balance in the news? giving equal weight and time to all viewpoints? that seems to be a crazy thing to expect since soke viewpoints are totally bonkers (example: flat earthers). perhaps a better way to critique would be to specify exactly what viewpoint you feel is being ignored or treated unfairly and justify that claim. otherwise “not balanced” comes across like a thought terminating meme, with no information attached.
    - high_derivative 7y ago
      It means they have fully subscribed to an intersectional victim culture that is obsessed with race, identity and oppression. It means giving platform to e.g. journalists inciting personal campaigns against e.g. Tim Hunt or whoever is the wrong-thinker of the hour. Outrage sells so this is a rational strategy for them, it is just surprising they have a better reputation than, say, Fox News.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      >what does balanced mean to people who comment on the lack of balance in the news? giving equal weight and time to all viewpoints? Covering all _major_ viewpoints with decency, and not demonizing the ones they disagree with. Here's a trick impartial outlets use all the time, for example: a favorite politician is presented in nice flattering photographs, a politician they don't like is presented in unflattering photographs, selected to make them look evil, etc. (Now extend this to coverage of their actions inside the articles).
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
sureaboutthis 7y ago
Twice, now, I've written a story--and deleted--about local TV news people I'm close to compared to when I worked in TV news in the early 1970s. There is no comparison and I wish I could leave what I wrote here. Back then, the TV news reporters were former newspaper reporters who spent days digging political underhandedness. I once had a TV reporter call me, recently, cause someone referred her saying I had knowledge of a topic. Misunderstanding what she asked, I called back 30 minutes later I did have the information she needed but she said it was too late and they weren't going to run the story. A few days ago, a news producer was reviewing dog toys.
novarek 7y ago
How do you solve that dilemma between disconnecting from news because it can make you happier and less stressed and disconnecting from news because you're privileged to do so? the parts of the article about the "need" to stay aware of what's happening at the very least certainly ring true for me.
- Veen 7y ago
  There is no dilemma. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with exercising a privilege if it doesn’t harm other people.
- sorryforthethro 7y ago
  What causes that need? Your job requires it? Or your social group will ostracize if you don't keep up?
kristianc 7y ago
Judging by the author's article history, there is good money to be made in playing on other people's insecurities. We should look at articles like this for what it is: the 2010s version of self-help. And as with most self-help, the author is more interested in heightening awareness of the things that are 'holding you back' than providing any meaningful solution.
skybrian 7y ago
It might help if filtering were better in more places. On YouTube, I mostly see accordion videos and that's the way I like it. On Twitter, even if I follow people who don't talk about politics, they will "like" other people's tweets that then show up in my feed. On Facebook, there should be a way to turn off reshares for someone you're friends with.

60 points by ytNumbers 7y ago

> We marinate in the news. We may be familiar with the headlines before we have exchanged a word with another human in the morning; we kill time on the bus or in queues by checking Twitter, only to find ourselves plunged into the dramas of presidential politics or humanitarian emergencies. By one estimate, 70% of us take our news-delivery devices to bed with us at night. Some people do this. And I'm guilty of having been one of them. But I realized that the constant negative news cycle started to shape my outlook on the world around me. Earlier this year I decided that the cycle of indulging in consumption of (usually negative) news, worrying about it, and then repeating is a waste of time and probably takes away from who I am rather than adding anything of real value. I don't check Twitter, I trying to avoid Facebook. I don't even watch my favorite late night talk show hosts (sorry Colbert). I've replaced them with audiobooks and podcasts. I am significantly happier for it. And minor anxieties I had that were unrelated to current events seem to have gone away too.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
melicerte 7y ago
Do you realize that you are posting your comment on a website having the word « news » in its name ? Just saying :)
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- reificator 7y ago
  I'm in a similar boat. The reason I visit hn is because it's typically technical news. Other news stories do make it to the front page occasionally, but they're normally big stories or tangentially related to tech. That's a trade-off I'm willing to make.
- katzgrau 7y ago
  Yes, although the things that fall within the scope of what HN considers to be newsworthy generally don't present the problems that I have with mainstream news.
everdev 7y ago
Same. It was a hard pill to swallow because I took a lot of pride in being "informed". But, at the end of the day you're along for the ride. I figured it makes the most sense to stay current about news that is relevant to my career and hobbies and skip the rest.
ChuckMcM 7y ago
Same. Structured news consumption to keep in the loop off what is going on.
nugget 7y ago
Weren't these patterns the same in the era of news delivered via newspaper? In old movies, the family reads the newspaper at the breakfast table, and in old photographs, everybody on the bus had a newspaper in their hands.

growlist 7y ago

Without even reading it I think I can predict the unspoken intent of the article: anything that undermines our suppression of opposing viewpoints must itself be suppressed. Off to check.. Yep that's pretty much the gist of it.

high_derivative 7y ago
While I enjoy reading some of the political reporting on Brexit on the guardian, they are amongst the least balanced newspapers on general societal and cultural issues.
- gameswithgo 7y ago
  what does balanced mean to people who comment on the lack of balance in the news? giving equal weight and time to all viewpoints? that seems to be a crazy thing to expect since soke viewpoints are totally bonkers (example: flat earthers). perhaps a better way to critique would be to specify exactly what viewpoint you feel is being ignored or treated unfairly and justify that claim. otherwise “not balanced” comes across like a thought terminating meme, with no information attached.
  - high_derivative 7y ago
    It means they have fully subscribed to an intersectional victim culture that is obsessed with race, identity and oppression. It means giving platform to e.g. journalists inciting personal campaigns against e.g. Tim Hunt or whoever is the wrong-thinker of the hour. Outrage sells so this is a rational strategy for them, it is just surprising they have a better reputation than, say, Fox News.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    >what does balanced mean to people who comment on the lack of balance in the news? giving equal weight and time to all viewpoints? Covering all _major_ viewpoints with decency, and not demonizing the ones they disagree with. Here's a trick impartial outlets use all the time, for example: a favorite politician is presented in nice flattering photographs, a politician they don't like is presented in unflattering photographs, selected to make them look evil, etc. (Now extend this to coverage of their actions inside the articles).

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

sureaboutthis 7y ago

Twice, now, I've written a story--and deleted--about local TV news people I'm close to compared to when I worked in TV news in the early 1970s. There is no comparison and I wish I could leave what I wrote here. Back then, the TV news reporters were former newspaper reporters who spent days digging political underhandedness. I once had a TV reporter call me, recently, cause someone referred her saying I had knowledge of a topic. Misunderstanding what she asked, I called back 30 minutes later I did have the information she needed but she said it was too late and they weren't going to run the story. A few days ago, a news producer was reviewing dog toys.

novarek 7y ago

How do you solve that dilemma between disconnecting from news because it can make you happier and less stressed and disconnecting from news because you're privileged to do so? the parts of the article about the "need" to stay aware of what's happening at the very least certainly ring true for me.

Veen 7y ago
There is no dilemma. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with exercising a privilege if it doesn’t harm other people.
sorryforthethro 7y ago
What causes that need? Your job requires it? Or your social group will ostracize if you don't keep up?

kristianc 7y ago

Judging by the author's article history, there is good money to be made in playing on other people's insecurities. We should look at articles like this for what it is: the 2010s version of self-help. And as with most self-help, the author is more interested in heightening awareness of the things that are 'holding you back' than providing any meaningful solution.

skybrian 7y ago

It might help if filtering were better in more places. On YouTube, I mostly see accordion videos and that's the way I like it. On Twitter, even if I follow people who don't talk about politics, they will "like" other people's tweets that then show up in my feed. On Facebook, there should be a way to turn off reshares for someone you're friends with.