6 ms·

I don't know. I think it's important to stay informed about the evolution of the pandemic, and local news are also extremely useful for staying prepared and ant

I don't know. I think it's important to stay informed about the evolution of the pandemic, and local news are also extremely useful for staying prepared and anticipating certain actions that you'll need to take. It might be better to consume all news in small daily doses rather than blocking out potentially critical information.

brokensegue 7y ago
The only information you absolutely need to hear is "am I under a stay at home order or not". Other than that you can probably read no news until the election when you should figure out if you think Trump did a good job handling COVID-19 (lol).
- dessant 7y ago
  > The only information you absolutely need to hear is "am I under a stay at home order or not". I doubt that's the case for most people, unless they have the luxury to completely isolate themselves for months.
  - brokensegue 7y ago
    I mean if you need aid you should actively seek it out not hope the news talks about it in between updating you on the death toll and such.
prox 7y ago
I agree, I understand the sentiment, but shutting yourself off is a dangerous head-in-the-sand strategy. Something to be used responsibly.
- guerrilla 7y ago
  what is it you think they're not going to hear about eventually that their family, neighbors or strangers wont inform them of?
- lbeltrame 7y ago
  I've had two anxiety attacks already when reading news in the past weeks, because the press and the goverment (I'm in Italy) love to only put the bad stuff out. Also the news were cause of many arguments among the family. For this reason, I decided to stop for the time being to read anything at all. The quarantine is already taxing (fifth week this Monday) and I don't want to make it worse it already is.
- Barrin92 7y ago
  >but shutting yourself off is a dangerous head-in-the-sand strategy only if that actual makes a material difference in your life. I think the opposite is true in this case. People read about Covid-19 all day as a coping mechanism because absorbing more information gives people the illusion they have control over the situation. Reality is nobody has much individual control over a pandemic, life got more dangerous, and reading a thousand papers isn't going to reduce that anxiety. We live in an age where people keep telling us that 'knowing things' is an antidote to tragedy or danger in life, because they're content creators, but really it isn't. Everyone can learn how to deal with this in 5 minutes. Wash your hands, only leave your house if necessary, yet still people may die, even some you know. No news source in the world will fix that.
KingFelix 7y ago
I agree, staying informed is good. I also think taking a stroll on the internet to read other things happening non C19 related is also healthy.
- behnamoh 7y ago
  Lots of good posts don't make it to HN's front page, and then there's this meaningless, harmful "Show HN"...
  - Der_Einzige 7y ago
    All the GitHub stars that show HN: has given me will keep me employable for a long time. Speak for yourself
- focodev 7y ago
  That is very much a challenging task.
agilebyte 7y ago
Some municipalities/provinces (states) already have their own channels where you can consume important news OR they send emergency alerts to your phone (such as this morning in Ontario).
crocodiletears 7y ago
Keeping abreast of all news is important, but it's quite impossible to do unless you make a conscious effort to break out of the current news cycle. If you follow the news, you know there's a pandemic going on, and you know there's a wealth of information out there if you need it. But if you're skimming headlines on most aggregators, that's more or less all you get to know (with the notable exception of gripe-pieces/love-letters concerning the Trump administration). The cognitive overhead of filtering out all that redundant information, and the accompanying bullshit hot-takes by self-aggrandizing bloggers masquerading as journalists can be so exhausting that you risk giving up or developing tunnel-vision around it. It's hard not to remember to check for pandemic updates even if you do deliberately filter them out of the news - it directly effects you. I think this plug-in is a very good idea, and should make it easier to stay informed with respect to the bigger picture of the world. Missing a couple articles lamenting our circumstances isn't really going to save that many lives.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
catalogia 7y ago
Very little of what I've read in the news has been actionable, particularly national/world news. What am I supposed to do with news about hospital supply shortages or crazy shoppers two thousand miles away? My local government's website and some local news stories have had more useful information. For examples, the top five headlines from lite.cnn.com/en/ right now: >This nurse demonstrates just how fast germs spread even if you're wearing gloves I'm not a nurse, and I don't have gloves, so this isn't actionable. It might be if I were a nurse, but I'm not. >Fact-check: Trump says some states aren't in jeopardy from the virus, denies saying it would go away by April There is nothing I can do about Trump being an idiot. Not actionable. > Opinion: Trump put American lives in China's hands Ditto. > Supplies could be delayed due to confusion from the White House, companies say Ditto. > Trump says HHS secretary meant the 'concept' of a pandemic kept him up at night in 2019 comment Ditto.
- smcl 7y ago
  The news has long been more entertainment than information, at least in the US. And perhaps Trump stumbling with clown shoes through this whole ordeal is just confirming something you already know, but I'd hope that people who previously voted for him might cast a more critical eye over his actions in light of his shambolic response.
  - catalogia 7y ago
    Whether or not these sort of headlines are politically beneficial, my point is that very few of these news stories give me any information I can use regarding Covid-19. Really my comment wasn't about politics, it just happened that most of the top headlines were political. Here are two more headlines to better illustrate my point: >I moved to Paris during lockdown. Here's what I found I am not in Paris, so this article is worthless to me. There is nothing I can do with knowledge of the situation in Paris. > How to make your own face mask This however, is information I could actually put to use. Articles like this are sadly a minority.
chukye 7y ago
How exactly consuming all news in small daily doses is helping you? I don't think it's 'extremely' useful, actually I don't think it's useful at all!
moron4hire 7y ago
That presumes that paying attention to the news is the same thing as becoming informed
clairity 7y ago
nearly all of the current wall of corona news on every news site is designed to foment anxiety (entirely different from the "fake news" naysayers) and garner future clicks, rather than provide critical information. the public is already doing what they need to do (physical distancing, washing hands, self-quarantining if necessary). medical professionals and scientists (and their suppliers) need time and support to provide care, create/perform tests, and develop new treatments and protocols. beyond that, we need to get our houses in order and then just relax as much as we can and wait until we get substantial evidence to do something different. all this corona hysteria is entirely counter-productive.
- joeyspn 7y ago
  Well, I'd say the situation is serious enough to require daily coverage in all front pages. This is the biggest global crisis since WW2. We've had a global underreaction that didn't pan out exactly well due to politicians and media sticking the head in the sand while the outbreak started in China. So I disagree, this is good, the situation is critical and people need to be fully aware/informed.
Mediterraneo10 7y ago
In many (most?) developed countries, citizens are automatically getting information on changes to the lockdown rules by SMS. So, there really is no need to read the news to hear about further restrictions. As other have mentioned, it only foments anxiety.
- sharken 7y ago
  It’s not just about restrictions but also new discoveries and a more nuanced coverage than what the big media and government decides to tell us. Anything that can support critical and informed thinking really.
  - KoftaBob 7y ago
    I'd be surprised if even 5% of that coverage is actionable in any way.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
qubots 7y ago
> It might be better to consume all news in small daily doses rather than blocking out potentially critical information. I'd rather read the one news app on my phone - which basically covers everything of what's interesting about the pandemic - than trying to consume all news but ending up reading the same thing on every social platform. This add-on could be a solution to this.
- guerrilla 7y ago
  sounds like everyone forgot what an RSS reader is already. that was fast...
ravenstine 7y ago
This just in, from Washington: Donald Trump is racist! In other news, we're all going to die! Are masks effective? Nobody seems to agree! #SocialDistancing! Next, we'll listen to experts predict things! Maybe they'll be right this time! More at 11! No, thanks.
chippy 7y ago
A healthy adult should be able to get the necessary information from other sources than have to consume the news.
paxys 7y ago
There is a limit IMO. Getting bombarded with COVID-19 news, videos, blogs, Tweets every second of the day is definitely not healthy. I would definitely prefer taking like 30 minutes 2-3 times a day to keep myself updated using my preferred sources.
- smcl 7y ago
  Well the person you are replying to said "in small daily small doses". To be honest I think 30 minutes, 2-3 times a day is already well past that.
- johntfella 7y ago
  yea. I no longer have facebook or twitter. nor reddit. hn i check monthly at most. I generally just keep to hammerstone feed that I check weekly.
djsumdog 7y ago
Every news source does sensational reporting and gives us conflicting information day by day. They do not report anything useful at this point. It's mindless. It's Orwellian. It's different depending on the network you listen to. The opinions change every day, all the leaders and corrupt, in every nation, and all we get are pieces of bullshit. The truth of all of this won't be known until at least two years out looking back, studying the news from this era. I do not think history will look kindly back on this moment. I think the future will hold 2020 as a cautionary tale, of how even when the dangers are real, we can still be susceptible to hysteria on a truly global scale.
aantix 7y ago
How many articles/tweets can you read about social distancing, washing your hands? Or one more article about others not doing those things? Ugh.

brokensegue 7y ago

The only information you absolutely need to hear is "am I under a stay at home order or not". Other than that you can probably read no news until the election when you should figure out if you think Trump did a good job handling COVID-19 (lol).

dessant 7y ago
> The only information you absolutely need to hear is "am I under a stay at home order or not". I doubt that's the case for most people, unless they have the luxury to completely isolate themselves for months.
- brokensegue 7y ago
  I mean if you need aid you should actively seek it out not hope the news talks about it in between updating you on the death toll and such.

prox 7y ago

I agree, I understand the sentiment, but shutting yourself off is a dangerous head-in-the-sand strategy. Something to be used responsibly.

guerrilla 7y ago
what is it you think they're not going to hear about eventually that their family, neighbors or strangers wont inform them of?
lbeltrame 7y ago
I've had two anxiety attacks already when reading news in the past weeks, because the press and the goverment (I'm in Italy) love to only put the bad stuff out. Also the news were cause of many arguments among the family. For this reason, I decided to stop for the time being to read anything at all. The quarantine is already taxing (fifth week this Monday) and I don't want to make it worse it already is.
Barrin92 7y ago
>but shutting yourself off is a dangerous head-in-the-sand strategy only if that actual makes a material difference in your life. I think the opposite is true in this case. People read about Covid-19 all day as a coping mechanism because absorbing more information gives people the illusion they have control over the situation. Reality is nobody has much individual control over a pandemic, life got more dangerous, and reading a thousand papers isn't going to reduce that anxiety. We live in an age where people keep telling us that 'knowing things' is an antidote to tragedy or danger in life, because they're content creators, but really it isn't. Everyone can learn how to deal with this in 5 minutes. Wash your hands, only leave your house if necessary, yet still people may die, even some you know. No news source in the world will fix that.

KingFelix 7y ago

I agree, staying informed is good. I also think taking a stroll on the internet to read other things happening non C19 related is also healthy.

behnamoh 7y ago
Lots of good posts don't make it to HN's front page, and then there's this meaningless, harmful "Show HN"...
- Der_Einzige 7y ago
  All the GitHub stars that show HN: has given me will keep me employable for a long time. Speak for yourself
focodev 7y ago
That is very much a challenging task.

agilebyte 7y ago

Some municipalities/provinces (states) already have their own channels where you can consume important news OR they send emergency alerts to your phone (such as this morning in Ontario).

crocodiletears 7y ago

Keeping abreast of all news is important, but it's quite impossible to do unless you make a conscious effort to break out of the current news cycle. If you follow the news, you know there's a pandemic going on, and you know there's a wealth of information out there if you need it. But if you're skimming headlines on most aggregators, that's more or less all you get to know (with the notable exception of gripe-pieces/love-letters concerning the Trump administration). The cognitive overhead of filtering out all that redundant information, and the accompanying bullshit hot-takes by self-aggrandizing bloggers masquerading as journalists can be so exhausting that you risk giving up or developing tunnel-vision around it. It's hard not to remember to check for pandemic updates even if you do deliberately filter them out of the news - it directly effects you. I think this plug-in is a very good idea, and should make it easier to stay informed with respect to the bigger picture of the world. Missing a couple articles lamenting our circumstances isn't really going to save that many lives.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

catalogia 7y ago

Very little of what I've read in the news has been actionable, particularly national/world news. What am I supposed to do with news about hospital supply shortages or crazy shoppers two thousand miles away? My local government's website and some local news stories have had more useful information. For examples, the top five headlines from lite.cnn.com/en/ right now: >This nurse demonstrates just how fast germs spread even if you're wearing gloves I'm not a nurse, and I don't have gloves, so this isn't actionable. It might be if I were a nurse, but I'm not. >Fact-check: Trump says some states aren't in jeopardy from the virus, denies saying it would go away by April There is nothing I can do about Trump being an idiot. Not actionable. > Opinion: Trump put American lives in China's hands Ditto. > Supplies could be delayed due to confusion from the White House, companies say Ditto. > Trump says HHS secretary meant the 'concept' of a pandemic kept him up at night in 2019 comment Ditto.

smcl 7y ago
The news has long been more entertainment than information, at least in the US. And perhaps Trump stumbling with clown shoes through this whole ordeal is just confirming something you already know, but I'd hope that people who previously voted for him might cast a more critical eye over his actions in light of his shambolic response.
- catalogia 7y ago
  Whether or not these sort of headlines are politically beneficial, my point is that very few of these news stories give me any information I can use regarding Covid-19. Really my comment wasn't about politics, it just happened that most of the top headlines were political. Here are two more headlines to better illustrate my point: >I moved to Paris during lockdown. Here's what I found I am not in Paris, so this article is worthless to me. There is nothing I can do with knowledge of the situation in Paris. > How to make your own face mask This however, is information I could actually put to use. Articles like this are sadly a minority.

chukye 7y ago

How exactly consuming all news in small daily doses is helping you? I don't think it's 'extremely' useful, actually I don't think it's useful at all!

moron4hire 7y ago

That presumes that paying attention to the news is the same thing as becoming informed

clairity 7y ago

nearly all of the current wall of corona news on every news site is designed to foment anxiety (entirely different from the "fake news" naysayers) and garner future clicks, rather than provide critical information. the public is already doing what they need to do (physical distancing, washing hands, self-quarantining if necessary). medical professionals and scientists (and their suppliers) need time and support to provide care, create/perform tests, and develop new treatments and protocols. beyond that, we need to get our houses in order and then just relax as much as we can and wait until we get substantial evidence to do something different. all this corona hysteria is entirely counter-productive.

joeyspn 7y ago
Well, I'd say the situation is serious enough to require daily coverage in all front pages. This is the biggest global crisis since WW2. We've had a global underreaction that didn't pan out exactly well due to politicians and media sticking the head in the sand while the outbreak started in China. So I disagree, this is good, the situation is critical and people need to be fully aware/informed.

Mediterraneo10 7y ago

In many (most?) developed countries, citizens are automatically getting information on changes to the lockdown rules by SMS. So, there really is no need to read the news to hear about further restrictions. As other have mentioned, it only foments anxiety.

sharken 7y ago
It’s not just about restrictions but also new discoveries and a more nuanced coverage than what the big media and government decides to tell us. Anything that can support critical and informed thinking really.
- KoftaBob 7y ago
  I'd be surprised if even 5% of that coverage is actionable in any way.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

qubots 7y ago

> It might be better to consume all news in small daily doses rather than blocking out potentially critical information. I'd rather read the one news app on my phone - which basically covers everything of what's interesting about the pandemic - than trying to consume all news but ending up reading the same thing on every social platform. This add-on could be a solution to this.

guerrilla 7y ago
sounds like everyone forgot what an RSS reader is already. that was fast...

ravenstine 7y ago

This just in, from Washington: Donald Trump is racist! In other news, we're all going to die! Are masks effective? Nobody seems to agree! #SocialDistancing! Next, we'll listen to experts predict things! Maybe they'll be right this time! More at 11! No, thanks.

chippy 7y ago

A healthy adult should be able to get the necessary information from other sources than have to consume the news.

paxys 7y ago

There is a limit IMO. Getting bombarded with COVID-19 news, videos, blogs, Tweets every second of the day is definitely not healthy. I would definitely prefer taking like 30 minutes 2-3 times a day to keep myself updated using my preferred sources.

smcl 7y ago
Well the person you are replying to said "in small daily small doses". To be honest I think 30 minutes, 2-3 times a day is already well past that.
johntfella 7y ago
yea. I no longer have facebook or twitter. nor reddit. hn i check monthly at most. I generally just keep to hammerstone feed that I check weekly.

djsumdog 7y ago

Every news source does sensational reporting and gives us conflicting information day by day. They do not report anything useful at this point. It's mindless. It's Orwellian. It's different depending on the network you listen to. The opinions change every day, all the leaders and corrupt, in every nation, and all we get are pieces of bullshit. The truth of all of this won't be known until at least two years out looking back, studying the news from this era. I do not think history will look kindly back on this moment. I think the future will hold 2020 as a cautionary tale, of how even when the dangers are real, we can still be susceptible to hysteria on a truly global scale.

aantix 7y ago

How many articles/tweets can you read about social distancing, washing your hands? Or one more article about others not doing those things? Ugh.