Overkill

Don’t watch/listen to it, there’s an off switch you know.

suziewoozie - I absolutely agree with you re the "off switch" - I employ this whenever I enter a thread and find you are taking part - I don't need to read put downs, sarcasm and downright rudeness in response to perfectly acceptable posts. Just pressing the switch now !

I don't want to watch it all the time but I think they have to keep repeating things as people work different hours and have different commitments. Not everyone wants to watch it at the same time.

Oh dear Jo as if I give a flying fig about what you think of me - I doubt any contribution of yours will ever be worth reading anyway so your not posting will hardly be a loss to GN. Rather the reverse ???

I've taken to watching, at most, once a day.

I just check the headlines online the watch the press briefing and listen to questions from the public. We switch off when the journalists start.

There's too much of it, on tv, radio, in the newspapers. I watch the news once a day and that's all. It's the same old thing all the time.

Flo I think you are right, there is news overkill at the moment, and it doesn’t do anyone any good to constantly see and listen to it.One of the trials of the modern age!

I watch the weather forecast on BBC in the mornings, not sure why, because Carol rarely gets it right.
Then we watch the daily briefing in the late afternoon.
We don’t watch any new programmes or anything with the current news on it, Suzie is right , there are plenty of other channels or the internet that you can watch.
burying our heads in the sands maybe?

We're watching Chris Packham.
Well, the monkeys, not the man himself

Jomarie
Quite!!

It’s diabolical, a daily hour programme would be completely enough It’s not only overkill it is overtaking peoples lives and it’s really freaking a lot of people out Some people have been hanging onto every word for the last two months or more
Which ever programme you are watching there will be warnings between, the news talks virtually about only that, then full on programmes too. eEvery time I turn any programme on radio apart from music, there it is, being discussed all the whys and where for the should shouldn’t the maybes
Social media is full on corvid corvid corvid
No wonder some people are so panicked they won’t even put their nose out of the door Poor mental health will overrun us soon

I employ the off switch a lot at the moment. I am happy to receive the necessary facts, but I do not want the media to keep trying to find a new angle on the subject - they are flogging a dead horse.

And nor do I need to see anyone else in tears over a sick or deceased relative. We all know what it feels like to lose someone and do not need to eavesdrop on another's grief.

It's a worldwide pandemic that has killed many thousands of people and which has closed down whole economies, building up all sorts of problems for the future. It could be argued that other issues pale into insignificance.

Some might also feel there is not enough coverage of the current virus situation, when very little is being said about the potential for a massive tragedy in poorer areas of the world and in refugee camps.

If you are finding the overload of virus news too much to deal with, just watch the news in the morning and later at night. There are plenty of other things to watch on TV or to listen to on the radio.

about 2 months ago someone on the radio pointed out that this must be the first time that all over the world the same subject will be on the news.
that brings home the enormity of it.
even the world wars would not have been on the news every day in countries not involved.
take care everyone. don't let your guard slip.

The reason the last two pandemics (1957 and 1968) killing millions worldwide are barely remembered is because we didn’t have this dreadful dreadful constant drip drip drip of all the media’s... newspapers, tv, radio in huge overkill and causing so much panic that is really bad for our mental health

Yes I can switch off and I do, but what about the people who are hanging on to every word and listening to all these constant programmes and becoming totally mentally ill I have one friend who is too frightened to even come to her front door she’s totally spooked

watch youtube about Transylvania (Romania) what a very beautiful laid back country, Don`t watch tv, don`t listen to news or lbc. Watch marie kondo on netflix to inspire you to do do something other than watch tv

Yes tv and radio 4 have this completely wrong, they should be broadcasting uplifting films and programmes

Luckygirl And nor do I need to see anyone else in tears over a sick or deceased relative. We all know what it feels like to lose someone and do not need to eavesdrop on another's grief

Thank you for saying that. I thought it was just me.
Like others, I listen to the actual news twice or three times a day, and switch off as soon as the petty nitpicking and backbiting starts.

Well said, lucky.

One actually doesn't need to watch/listen to any TV or radio to get the news. Reading works as well. Better, probably, if it's in depth commentary you want and different points of view on the same thing.

I’m glad the press in this country has the freedom to inform us of the issues that we need to know about and Coronavirus
understandably takes all the headlines right now. They do bang on though!
Anyone whose mental health is fragile - and I’m one of those people - has to keep perspective. I can easily tip into negative thoughts. CBTherapy teaches how to filter out negative thoughts and not allow them to grind you down.
Start each day with positive thoughts about your life, your blessings.
I kept my “help” pages used on my course and read through them often and re-practise them. It keeps me much calmer and more contented with life and lockdown.
Craftyonr - Spot on. I find distraction is a great coping strategy.

Yes Luckygirl, positively ghoulish how the camera zooms in on some distressed daughter or heartbroken husband of 50 plus years.
That’s not news, it’s just padding out the facts with what we can well imagine ourselves.

I don't think it's overkill considering how the virus is affecting every aspect of our lives, worldwide.

Other major events e.g. terrorism, AIDS, mad cow disease, even wars, never resulted in lockdown, mass loss of jobs, closure of whole industries, shutdown of most public transport and schools, all at the same time. There can be no-one who is not affected.

It's only overkill if you sit glued to the TV all day - which a lot of members seem to do even during normal times!

I agree with BlueBelle that the constant in your face pandemic updates will be causing and exacerbating all sorts of mental health problems that we will have to deal with in the future. I know personally of people with anxiety issues who are finding it impossible to stop watching constantly, despite support and encouragement from their families. It must be so much worse for those on their own.

For most of us, yes, just don’t watch. We sometimes switch the news on at 10pm, otherwise I check the BBC website a couple of times a day for news updates. It’s obvious from there that some major crimes and events that are unrelated to the pandemic are simply not being reported on the TV and radio news now, which is another worry.