River: getting angry at the news

[mdlbear]

I rarely pay much attention to the news these days. To some extent that's due to lack of time combined with my inability to split my attention, but it's also due to the fact that it often makes me feel angry and helpless. I just realized that it's probably another effect of my having more empathy than I know how to handle.

Comments

[mithriltabby]

After a while, I find my reaction to the news just goes numb; I ran out of outrage years ago. I find it useful for thinking clearly about policy, but getting there is pretty bad. If you want the quick route to achieving that numbness, I could lend you a few books, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I vary between avoiding it and actively seeking it out. Sometimes it makes me angry but being able to post about it, and call my various representatives in government, makes me feel somewhat less helpless.

But I support your right to ignore it if that's what you need to do. And certainly to ignore it right now--you've got enough on your plate.

[mdlbear]

I'm glad there are people like you around to occasionally drag bits of the real world, kicking and screaming, into LJ where I can see them.

[jilara.livejournal.com]

I don't characterize my reaction as angry, but "fed up" just about sums it up. I notice I've been avoiding news for a while, because it's just so much of a mess I don't want to even deal with it.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

I urge everyone to stay away from mainstream news. Having worked in broadcasting myself, I know just how much of it is hyped up to stimulate the audience's emotions. They generate a constant miasma of chronic free-floating anxiety, which can only be relieved either by buying whatever product the commercials are selling, and/or by watching/reading/listening to more news.

I had to consciously decide not to let the news get my knickers in a knot over every potential danger. I can't do anything about big, vague threats like "the economy"; all that happens is that I get unhappy thinking about it. I have to save my emotional energy for things that I can do something about.

[victorthecook.livejournal.com]

What acelightning said. Though you can try to understand in decent depth what's going on, you also have other things you have to do first.

For years now, I've consciously tried to limit my exposure to news. I try to get through _The Economist_ every week, my idea being that a lot of emotionally-laden, but not actionable, stuff will drop out of the news cycle before a week is over. Also, despite its flaws, _The Economist_ uses full sentences and a reasonably large vocabulary, and I don't throw it against the wall regularly. Unlike, say, _Newsweek_. And I feel like I'm keeping up with things if I've read something.

I also try to watch _The Daily Show_ periodically, just so I know what other people are fussing over.

[mdlbear]

I often read _Science_ for similar reasons, and occasionally http://news.google.com