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News & politics

Maybe ignorance is bliss......

(97 Posts)
Shinamae Tue 22-Dec-20 09:31:28

I follow the news very regularly and have done for years,first thing in the morning it’s sky News and then periodically through the day to catch up on what’s going on. But I’m wondering at the moment that maybe I should not be watching the news so much/at all as it’s all getting a bit too much for me. I know someone who will not read a newspaper or watch the news on TV and seems quite oblivious to world affairs and the worry that they are bringing to people at the moment. Also with today’s technology we have every bit of news in our living rooms as it happens straight away where as years ago it took a while for things to filter through anyway I would be interested in your opinions......

LadyGracie Tue 22-Dec-20 11:24:03

We don’t watch or listen to the news, headlines pop up on our iPads and that’s enough these days.

Natasha76 Tue 22-Dec-20 11:16:36

I listen in the morning, 5 minutes at lunchtime and watch the news in the evening and that is all.
Its not necessary to have the News on more frequently and is not good for mental health to hear all this bad News continually. I people may have been better off during WW2 when we see them gathered around the wireless in the evening.

ayse Tue 22-Dec-20 11:12:39

I listened, read or watch the news once daily. That’s it unless there is something other than COVID or Brexit. It just winds me up, so I’ve given up.

I’m far less anxious than I used to be but it’s all too much

beverly10 Tue 22-Dec-20 11:12:34

Moobox
How right you are. That is why I only watch my local news chanel.Ignorance is bliss.

Brownowl564 Tue 22-Dec-20 11:12:20

Who brings them to book for negative, biased and just plain nasty behaviour towards anyone who has a different viewpoint to them, you are right journalists are supposed to do as you say in a neutral way but they have lost the plot and their impartiality

Jillybird Tue 22-Dec-20 11:12:06

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NemosMum Tue 22-Dec-20 11:08:57

There's great essay by Clive James entitled "Mass death dies hard". It's about how the press behaves, using climate change as an example of how the press like (to reverse the words of the popular song) "Accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive." The main stream press have lost all integrity and are now political campaigns. Try just limiting yourself to a short news report every day. If it makes you feel more settled, that's the way to go.

EllanVannin Tue 22-Dec-20 11:07:57

I wish they'd all shut up. They've got too much to say.

Kate1949 Tue 22-Dec-20 11:07:31

Bless him Elliane smile

EllanVannin Tue 22-Dec-20 11:07:01

In one breath they're saying not to panic buy then in the next breath they're saying there'll be a shortage of fresh food due to the lorries backed up. People obviously WILL panic buy. D'oh !

threexnanny Tue 22-Dec-20 10:59:40

I'm much happier when I limit my time listening to the news. I already know things are bad so I don't need to be told that several times a day with graphs, statistics and the same old questions repeated constantly.

Sparklefizz Tue 22-Dec-20 10:57:48

I disagree. They create panic. "Reporters relay the news, they don't create shortages."

Nannapat1 Tue 22-Dec-20 10:56:50

Well I know that I watch the news channels and follow the broadsheets on FB far too much for my own good but can't seem to stop! I don't agree re Laura Kuenssberg but I do get annoyed with the broadsheets putting out totally contradictory articles several times a day, which are opinion rather than fact.

Sparklefizz Tue 22-Dec-20 10:56:38

morethan2

I’m really going to have to stop watching the news and briefings. On top of everything else it’s making a bad situation worse. I’m starting to get really tearful, what’s worse I feel the need to swear at the television. My late father did this and it drove us all crazy. My motivation has completely disappeared. I can’t even read a book To calm down and keep my mind off all the sadness I’m listening to dramas and podcasts on bbc sounds. Will this unending misery and sadness ever end.? It’s so draining.

I am exactly the same morethan2

CaroleLM16 Tue 22-Dec-20 10:52:25

I think sticking to one news channel can offer a warped view of the world. I am a bit of a news junkie so I read the Guardian and Private Eye (it’s not all satirical, it gets to the news behind the news) and I watch Euro News (fantastic for in-depth news items about other parts of the world, not just Europe), Al Jazeera, CNN (fascinating during the recent US elections check up on the news via the Guardian, Washington Post and BBC apps. I keep promising myself a break from it all but I can’t do it just yet. I’m scared of missing anything!

Lolee Tue 22-Dec-20 10:51:51

It's not reporters who cause shortages/delays in the food supply chain, it's the Government's inept policies and the restrictions placed on travel/manufacturing processes due to Covid-19.

Reporters relay the news, they don't create shortages.

Ailidh Tue 22-Dec-20 10:46:06

I stopped watching the six o'clock news after the Westminster terror attacks, because it was genuinely affecting my state of mind. Even more so now.
I watch the news when I get up, then a couple of times during the day I look at the BBC news app, and that's it. Apart from any prime ministerial updates.

I can't be doing with some "political correspondents" who seem to think they're being hard-hitting crusaders but actually come across as petulant poop-stirrers.

katy1950 Tue 22-Dec-20 10:45:39

I think all the news channels and presenters love to sensationlise the news they give their opinions rather than the actual facts they seems to be experts in every subject. They constantly ask the most stupid questions to the government ministers and they don't listen to the answers. The quality of most journalists is very poor and unfortunately the female journalists and presenters just seem to shriek and interrupt people sorry rant over
.

Blossoming Tue 22-Dec-20 10:44:58

I don’t avoid news altogether as I like to know what’s happening so I can be prepared. I do agree that a lot of it is overhyped and sensationalised and can affect people mentally. I listen to the BBC global news podcast once a day, it seems to have a good balance.

morethan2 Tue 22-Dec-20 10:44:28

I’m really going to have to stop watching the news and briefings. On top of everything else it’s making a bad situation worse. I’m starting to get really tearful, what’s worse I feel the need to swear at the television. My late father did this and it drove us all crazy. My motivation has completely disappeared. I can’t even read a book To calm down and keep my mind off all the sadness I’m listening to dramas and podcasts on bbc sounds. Will this unending misery and sadness ever end.? It’s so draining.

Gingergirl Tue 22-Dec-20 10:42:17

There are times when I stop actually watching it on the tv. Now is one of them. I just look at headlines online and then try to get on with things. I think especially the BBC has convenient tunnel vision, comes up with skewed facts and alarmist story lines. I know we were brought up to think of them as impeccable...but there’s so much evidence to suggest otherwise now. I like to also read a wide view on the covid stuff just to give some balance. It’s quite illuminating. The press love a dramatic story line often at the expense of accuracy and we need not to be drawn down into that....which I fear is what’s happening now.

Mohum Tue 22-Dec-20 10:42:09

What annoys me is that they use pictures from weeks and months ago so you never know what is current.

moobox Tue 22-Dec-20 10:40:49

I must be a doom stroller then. I never used to watch the news, just listened to it on radio bulletins, whereas this year I have watched, listened, amped it and carried it round on headphones. That's what pandemic does to you

Dorsetcupcake61 Tue 22-Dec-20 10:38:20

Palaver ?

Dorsetcupcake61 Tue 22-Dec-20 10:37:41

At the beginning of all this I felt I very much wanted hard facts and spent time tracking them down. As time has progressed I find I feel much better if I just tune into an online news source and a tv news that seems reliable once daily.
For me the biggest issue is the whole palace that surrounds it,the endless speculation and discussion whether on daytime tv or pre and post government press briefings. None of it really seems particularly useful.! Most of it seems to cause unnecessary concern!