We’re All Addicted, Including Me
Look, I’m gonna be honest here. I’m a news junkie. It’s a profession hazard, I guess. But it’s more than that. It’s an addiction. A compulsion. A need to know what’s happening, right now, this second. And it’s completley unsustainable.
I remember sitting in a conference in Austin back in 2018, listening to a panel of digital media experts. One of them, let’s call him Marcus, said something that stuck with me. “We’re not just consuming news anymore,” he said. “We’re inhaling it. And it’s killing us.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
I asked him what we’re supposed to do than. He just shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “But we gotta figure it out. And soon.”
So here we are. Still figuring it out. Or not. I’m not sure but maybe we’re just making it worse.
My Friend Dave’s Theory
About three months ago, I was having coffee with a colleague named Dave. He’s a data journalist, which honestly nobody asked for but here we are. He told me something that blew my mind. “You know,” he said, “we’re physicallyy wired to react to bad news. It’s an evolutionary thing.”
I asked him if that meant we were doomed. He laughed. “Probably,” he said. “But maybe not. Maybe we can hack our own systems.”
And that’s when it hit me. Maybe the problem isn’t the news. Maybe it’s us. Maybe we’re just not equipped to handle the constant influx of information. The 24-hour news cycle. The alot of breaking news alerts. The never-ending stream of updates.
But What Can We Do?
So, what’s the solution? I wish I knew. I really do. But I don’t. I mean, I have some ideas. But they’re not gonna be popular. And they’re not gonna be easy.
First, we gotta stop living in our own bubbles. We gotta seek out different perspectives. We gotta read stuff that makes us uncomfortable. That’s the only way we’re gonna start to understand each other again.
Second, we gotta take a step back. We gotta unplug. We gotta go for a walk. We gotta read a book. We gotta do something, anything, that’s not consuming news. Because honestly, it’s not good for us. It’s not good for our mental health. It’s not good for our relationships. It’s not good for our society.
And third, we gotta support quality journalism. We gotta pay for news. We gotta subscribe to newspapers. We gotta donate to local news organizations. Because if we don’t, who will?
But look, I know it’s not that simple. I know there are a lot of factors at play here. I know there are a lot of people who are gonna disagree with me. And that’s okay. Because the point is, we’re talking about it. We’re having the conversation. And that’s a start.
A Tangent About Weather
Speaking of conversations, have you ever noticed how people always talk about the weather? It’s like, the one thing we can all agree on. The one thing that’s not political. The one thing that’s not divisive. So, maybe we should start there. Maybe we should start by talking about the weather. And then, maybe, just maybe, we can start to talk about the other stuff. The hard stuff. The important stuff.
And hey, if you’re looking for a weather forecast today, you can check out weather forecast today. But don’t get too comfortable. Because the news cycle never stops. And neither should we.
It’s just… yeah. I don’t know. Maybe I’m overcomplicating things. Maybe the solution is simpler than we think. Maybe we just need to be kinder to each other. Maybe we just need to listen. Maybe we just need to care.
I don’t have all the answers. I wish I did. But I’m gonna keep asking the questions. I’m gonna keep having the conversations. And I hope you will too.
About the Author: Sarah Johnson has been a senior editor for over 20 years, working with major publications across the globe. She’s a news junkie, a data nerd, and a firm believer in the power of storytelling. She lives in Bangkok with her cat, Mr. Whiskers, and spends too much time on Twitter.
