There are those who advocate that Americans take a holiday from the news out of mental health concerns. The idea is that they may find the news too depressing, so taking a break might be good therapy.
I have a different reaction to that suggestion. In fact, it may be that we all need to be paying more attention, not less.
My reasoning goes like this: Simply by virtue of living in what is by far the richest and most powerful country on the planet, Americans are already living in the equivalent of a news holiday.
Consider the vast size difference between the U.S. economy and the rest of the world.
As measured by GDP, the U.S. economy is basically as large as the economies of Japan, Germany, France, Brazil, the U.K., Italy, India and Canada combined. And those are the eight other largest economies outside of China. whose economy is less than two-thirds as large as ours.
We also are the unchallenged military powerhouse on the planet, with the firepower to destroy any challenger should we wish to do that.
What this vast wealth and huge arms advantage obscures from us is the everyday hunger, poverty, illness and premature death, exploitation, crime, authoritarianism and miserable living conditions that exist in much of the rest of the world.
Meanwhile. if you find the news depressing, welcome to the club. I always try to sprinkle a bit of the good, as well as the humorous, into my daily wrap-ups, because I know that the relentless flow of negative content can get people down. But I won't dumb down the news because in that case I would be misleading people, violating my duty as a journalist, and failing to tell the truth.
So, no, don't ignore the news, but if you feel like turning off the TV news channels now and then, that is probably a good move. Shutting off TV news need not reduce your news literacy -- far from it. The cable networks polarize and divide people in order to gain ratings. So turning off the TV news is healthy.
By contrast, reading and discussing the news will help you be part of the solution. And the solution, to the extent there is one, is to be part of a highly informed citizenry that rejects conspiracy theories and demagogues to face reality and do the hard work of forging democratic alternatives to the despots who thrive wherever there is ignorance in this world.
In the U.S., we are not immune from the consequences of ignorance. If you need evidentiary proof, I've got one word for you: Trump. The vast, red news “deserts” helped bring him to power and under his brand of leadership, we are rapidly descending into an authoritarian future, where everybody takes a news holiday all the time 24/7.
So simply by paying attention to the news these days is a form of rebellion and I commend you for that. In the end, our democracy depends on those of us who do..
HEADLINES:
US and EU clinch deal with broad 15% tariffs on EU goods to avert trade war (Reuters)
EU, US Reach Deal to Avoid Trump Tariff Hike Before Deadline (Bloomberg)
Malnutrition in Gaza at alarming levels, WHO warns as aid airdrops resume (BBC)
Israel announces humanitarian pause in Gaza after international pressure (Axios)
How redistricting in Texas and other states could change the game for US House elections (AP)
Silicon Valley Is Nearing A Breaking Point (Forbes)
ICE Agents Invade a Manhattan Little League Field (New Yorker)
Competing Conspiracy Theories Consume Trump’s Washington (NYT)
It’s a year of rapid change, except when it comes to Trump’s approval numbers, AP-NORC polling finds (AP)
Ghislaine Maxwell's meetings with Justice Department shrouded in secrecy (NBC)
Russia has also declared war on literature. Look at what’s happening and be warned (Guardian)
Thailand and Cambodia agree to talks in Malaysia after four days of fighting (BBC)
AI intensifies battle for talent, housing and investments in San Francisco (WP)
New AI architecture delivers 100x faster reasoning than LLMs with just 1,000 training examples (VentureBeat)
The AI explosion means millions are paying more for electricity (WP)
A new study just upended AI safety (Verge)
The gulf is not the place to build the world’s AI infrastructure (WP)
AG Informed Trump His Name Tattooed All Over Epstein’s Body (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment