Summary

The author advocates for limiting news consumption to improve mental well-being and avoid the biases presented in mainstream media.

Abstract

The article titled "Do You Want To Live A Happier Life, Try Limiting Your News Intake" suggests that reducing exposure to news media can lead to a happier life. The author shares their personal experience of feeling depressed and angry due to the negative and biased nature of news reporting. They point out that modern media often mixes news with opinions and is driven by the need for higher viewership and advertising revenue, leading to a lack of unbiased reporting. The author has taken to cross-referencing information from multiple sources to discern the truth, a process they find time-consuming and unnecessary. They reminisce about the era of journalists like Walter Cronkite, who reported news factually without personal opinions. To maintain sanity and stay informed, the author now limits news consumption to about 20 minutes a day, watches different channels throughout the week, and reads technology, writing, history, and science articles instead of focusing on political news, which they find divisive and detrimental to their health.

Opinions

The author believes that news media today is predominantly negative and politically biased, contributing to personal distress.
They criticize the media for presenting news with a spin, suggesting it has become a source of propaganda rather than objective information.
The author expresses a longing for the return to a style of journalism that presents just the facts, similar to Walter Cronkite's approach.
They are skeptical of the integrity of current news channels, noting that each has a discernible political lean, whether it's Fox News to the right, MSNBC to the left, or more extreme channels like OANN and FSTV.
The author has adopted a selective approach to news consumption, actively choosing what to watch and read, and verifying sources to ensure accuracy.
They argue that the effort required to stay informed without being swayed by bias is unreasonable and a waste of valuable time.
The author has found that limiting news intake to a brief period in the morning and focusing on less distressing topics has significantly improved their mental health.

Do You Want To Live A Happier Life, Try Limiting Your News Intake

It’s made me a much saner person

Office of Congressperson Karen Bass, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Do you want to live a happier life? Then do what I’ve done and limit your news exposure regardless of how you get it.

Right around Thanksgiving I decided that our news media was bringing me down both physically and mentally. It made me depressed and frequently angry.

Let’s face it, they don’t ever present you with good news stories, only tragedies or politics (which are also a tragedy in my opinion) so what should I have expected.

The problem with our media

Gone are the days where the media simply reported the news as it came in, no fluff and no opinions, just the news as it happened.

Today our media, especially our television media, reports stories laced with opinion. They can’t seem to get a story out without having a panel of so-called experts debate it and, provide their opinions. This isn’t news, this is propaganda manipulated to play to their audience.

They’ve taken their queue from social media, more eyes means more advertising revenue.

You see this most clearly in political reporting. It’s never presented without a spin. When was the last time you heard a political story that didn’t lean either right or left? I can’t remember one.

Pick a channel here in the United States and my point will be proven. Fox News leans right, MSNBC leans left, and CNN although far from perfect leans a bit left most of the time though not nearly to the extent that MSNBC does.

Then there are the extremes, each with sizable audiences. One America News Network (OANN), this channel leans to the extreme right, so much so in fact that it has been dropped by some cable systems for providing false information. On the extreme left we have Free Speech TV (FSTV), which caters to the progressive crowd and demonizes almost every conservative.

If you can think of a single news channel or publication that reports only the facts without any spin, opinions or panels I’d love to hear about them.

This begs the question, where are all the modern day Walter Cronkite's? For those of you that don’t know who this is, he was an American TV news pioneer and known as “the most trusted man in America”. Walter Cronkite did what any TV news anchor worth his weight should do and that is just give us the news, unfiltered and factual.

My attempt to regain my sanity

In an attempt to circumvent this problem I’ve resorted to researching any topic I’m interested in on multiple channels and/or in multiple publications. From this I do my best to parse out the facts from the fluff. In most cases if I find the same information in more than one report then I can be fairly confident that it’s true.

All of this takes up my valuable time, and the fact remains that no one should have to do this.

Because I have to go to this extent to remain informed, I’ve become picky about what I watch and read. I skim headlines and always look at who the source of the article is to determine if I read it. I even go so far as to find out who a particular publication is if I don’t recognize it.

When it comes to television news, there aren’t any good choices in my view. All of them have some kind of slant to their reporting, and the talking-heads they put on their panels drive me crazy.

What I’ve done to alleviate my depression and yet stay responsibly informed is very simple.

I watch about 20 minutes of television news while I drink my coffee in the morning. I mix it up by watching a few different channels during the course of the week. This gives me at least some idea of what’s making news each day and when I hear something that interests me I make a note, either literally or mentally to research the topic further.

While I’m watching the news (okay, it’s more listening to it than watching it), I peruse the headlines on Apple News+, Google News or both. These services provide some options for further research based on my interests. Obviously, if I’m still unconvinced of the facts I can always look into a story further.

All told, I spend about 20 minutes with the news each day. It’s just enough to stay informed, but not enough to depress me or make me angry (at least most of the time). This is a substantial decrease in my consumption from my previous 2 to 3 hours per day, including the evening news.

Final thoughts

I still read a lot from many different sources throughout my day, though most of what I read is technology related. I find the topic interesting, and not so depressing. I sprinkle it with articles on writing, history, and science to help me become more well rounded.

I used to be absorbed by political news, but not so much any more. The divisiveness, the bickering, the hatred, and the ignorance of politicians wasn’t good for my health. So I did what I thought best — I quit.

As a result, I’m a much happier person. I’m informed, but not overwhelmed and that has been a good thing for me mentally.

Until next time…