No News Actually IS Good News
"It's not just that the news is bad. When has it not been? Planes landing safely do not merit mention. No, in our age, the way many of us get news is in pre-packaged units wrapped in outrage and blame...Our heads are exploding, not because we've lost our self-control, but because we're ingesting news that is designed for that purpose. It's like dining on arsenic and then being surprised that we're sick."
~ Mona Charen, syndicated columnist
Smartphones and social media have put every corner in the world at our fingertips. The news now comes at us 24 hours a day. Nowadays, I'm hungrily scanning the newspaper for happy stories. Stories that things are going well. Stories about people who are inspirational. Stories about projects that make a positive impact.
Can't find them. It's one more shooting, one more accident, one more tornado, one more end-of-the-world or end-of-democracy story.
Why Is Good News So Hard to Find?
The algorithms feed us not just “what we are interested in" – but also and especially what will keep us hooked and watching. Keeping us hooked means they can sell advertising. Keep us afraid and dissatisfied, and we are more likely to buy things. Because if we are happy with ourselves and our lives, do we really need yet more clothes, more makeup, more alcohol, newer cars and technology?
This kind of skewed news ecosystem is happening at a bad time: the general population is showing the mental health aftershocks of COVID, of shootings or economic and natural disaster. And it is clear that news is making it worse.
The unethical purveyors of falsehoods for the purpose of attracting eyeballs seems to know no bounds. We have Alex Jones telling his followers that Sandy Hook never happened and inciting internet harassment toward grieving parents of slain children, and the recent internal documents released that show that Fox knew that the election had not been stolen, and lied to protect the size of its viewership. On the other side, we have the New York Times determined that we know everything about the enormity of the problems and injustices in the world.
This is not to say that they are the same. They most certainly are not.
But they both present the picture that everyday life for most people is awful – and guess what? It isn't.
When trying to navigate this minefield, and stay informed through a carefully curated selection of high quality news sources, I have to remind myself:
"Today in America, millions of people had a good day. Millions of parents and kids ate together. Millions of travelers got safely to their destinations. Millions of people had a decent day at work. For millions of people, NOTHING BAD HAPPENED. And that's the news."
Beware: Skewed News Can Do Damage
Engaging with news today is beginning to have widespread negative psychological impacts. Psychologists have started to examine the negative emotional impact of being surrounded by this, and the associated need to look for more and more bad news and the negative emotional impact that accompanies it. This seemingly addictive behavior has a name: "Doomscrolling."
A recent trio of studies out of Turkey looked at the effects of negative media consumption and found:
It is heavier among men and young people who are more likely to be online
Viewer histories of childhood maltreatment or psychological distress make the impact more profound
People who are not dealing with psychological distress, who are extraverted and more involved with social activities consume less mainstream news, experience less negative impact
In addition, the American Psychological Association is sounding a warning about the media overload. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/11/strain-media-overload. The article notes that psychologists are seeing an increase in stress *specifically* related to news, and share ideas on helpful media consumption guardrails.
My Advice:
o Reduce or stop watching the news, especially television or internet news. These are first and foremost profit-driven entertainment organizations, frequently with little staff.
o Use critical thinking about your news sources, and also about whether the stories really are of use to you.
o Connect with people socially. Try to keep the conversations on positive things. Notice all the good or neutral things that are happening in your life today, right now. Ask your friends and families for good stories.
o Take positive action. If a story makes you feel deeply or get angry, instead of stewing in adrenalin and helplessness, get involved. Give money, give your time. Lots of people can use your help.
And remember, the way the news ecosystem is run today, most news is designed to be outrageously bad news.
Limit your exposure to the arsenic -- find your good news and dine on that.
Alan "Tony" Amberg APRN PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner