I am definitely not who I used to be.

[reynardo]

As a kid, the news was all-important. My dad was a journalist, then an editor, so would insist on watching the news (or listening) three or four times a day. Dinner at 7pm was punctuated by the ABC news through the serving hatch. In the car on the hour? ABC radio.

I went on to do much the same. I tried to keep up with the news, and at the very least read the newspaper or watch the television news from a reputable source.

But now?

Between the Great Orange Cheeto in the USA, the pig-headed bastards who try and run this country, and the various hate groups trying to screw things up everywhere, I can't anymore. It sends a shiver down my spine. I lose whatever pleasure I might have had with the day when I hear of refugees being abused in a place we sent them, or rights being taken from human beings for having a different belief or physicality or love. Or I hear of people just being cruel to others for their own advancement or benefit.

SO I don't follow the news like I used to. I don't keep up with the latest political drama or the great financial gains of whatever companies. It leaves me cold and sad, and for my own personal mental health, I switch off if I cannot deal.

And I do do things to try and help the situation. Because if I ever stop believing that I can actually make a difference myself, I'd sink even lower.

I miss my idealism. But I've got determination instead. That will have to do.

Comments

[toodleoo]

I miss my idealism. But I've got determination instead.

Yep. Honestly, if it weren't for Angela Merkel right now, I'd have nothing in world politics to hold onto.

[thewayne]

I had the honor of being in the presence of Walter Kronkite, he was doing a book signing of his autobiography. I didn't shake his hand because he looked truly miserable: a couple of weeks later he had a triple bypass, so he truly was miserable. ANYWAY, he stated in his book that the death of television news was the networks letting Nielson provide ratings for news broadcasts. When that happened, they started running 'color' pieces. It used to be that you had the local 30 minute news, the national 30 minute news which generally had 5 minutes or so of international news, and that plus a newspaper did a pretty decent job of keeping you informed.

Now it's just sad.

I read several American news sources that I think I can identify the biases of, I also read foreign news sources. I really should add ABC to the mix, I don't have a good source for perspective from your hemisphere. You should take a look at News Thump, it's a UK humor site, sort of like The Onion in the USA. Sometimes it's a little too British, but sometimes they're brilliant. They had a recent piece about The Shire electing Saruman as their new leader that was quite good.

[austin_dern]

I haven't felt this awful about watching the news since shortly after the September 11 attacks. I can't even look at the Newseum's front pages of papers I used to read or have some association with anymore.

I'm still staying informed, at least I think, but it's mostly by following on Twitter what I need to call my local Vichy Republican to complain is appalling this week.

[damien_wise]

My experiences growing-up were similar. I read the broadsheet newspaper five days a week (then, when weekend editions were printed, six and sometimes seven). And, the ABC news was watched every night with dinner. The TV was well warmed-up by that point in the evening because of Dr Who, The Goodies, Monkey, etc.
Since then, the quality of mainstream journalism has plummeted, and so I drifted away. In its place, I get most of my news from The Guardian online, and social media. Twitter is by far the most up-to-date and fastest to respond to changes. Sometimes, there's such a time-lag between Twitter and other online sources that I discard something I've just read there. Eg: when David Bowie passed away, I had my sense of denial and disbelief confirmed by the slowth of update on Facebook, Wikipedia, and more. For a few minutes, I had such a serve of hope, and then got a second case of crushing grief. Once was bad enough.
And, like you, I've learned to switch off as a method of self-preservation when the news gets too overwhelming, too distorted by poor analysis, or too biased.

[reynardo]

Wise person.