“News is not just for the public good,” says Moraine Valley information literacy librarian Tish Hayes. “News companies need to make money. (It’s about) having news first, or news with the most sensational titles. They want to get eyeballs on their content.”
There’s so much negativity happening around us daily, so how do you keep it from affecting you? I suggest turning off the news for a while and spending time connecting to the world around you.
Many reputable studies and organizations agree that too much news exposure negatively affects your mental health, causing symptoms of depression and anxiety. The surprising part is that it takes only 14 minutes of negative news for these symptoms to set in. That means it could be affecting you right now, and you don’t even know it.
As an autistic Arab woman, I’m especially sensitive to news topics like racism and social justice. I know all too well, as a formerly avid political news consumer, the damage this content can do to your mental health. Reading online news also distracted me from writing my novel, and once I reduced that, I became more creatively productive. And I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Taking care of your mental health doesn’t mean, however, that you should avoid consuming any news at all. It’s about being more mindful of what you take in.
“You only check once a day, or maybe you only check a couple of times a week,” said Hayes. “The reality is, it’s important to keep up with, and know what’s happening in our world. Most of us can’t affect the news, so it doesn’t matter if I read a breaking news story right when it happens. I can wait until the next morning to get that information.”
Learning is always a good thing, and you can get much more of it from doing things than from scrolling endlessly through news feeds.
Pharmacy major Sadeel Altaji, 18, says the news makes her feel “devastated because of how there’s wars and genocides going on, especially with what’s going on with Sudan.” She has started limiting the time she spends on apps to avoid reading too much news.
The effects of news binging go beyond harming your mood and mind. In fact, they can make us more vulnerable to spreading misinformation, Hayes says.
“If we don’t have our full capacity when we’re consuming news, and we’re not being critical, it adds to both our own emotional turmoil, and it makes it difficult for us to be critical thinkers, and critical takers of the news,” she said. “We could fall prey to misinformation in a way that we wouldn’t if we were more disciplined about how we consume news.”
And…news flash! The news you consume isn’t always an accurate depiction of reality. Many news outlets emphasize the negative things in order to drive up ratings and clicks.
It’s human nature to focus on bad things, driven by generations of natural selection for threat detection. But consuming too much negative news leads to you feeling hopeless and helpless, unable to perceive any of the world’s many good things and people.
Yes, there are many good things happening around us, being done by numerous amazing and kind people worldwide. You just need to turn off cable for a few minutes and look at something like SomeGoodNews.
“We could fall prey to misinformation in a way that we wouldn’t if we were more disciplined about how we consume news.”
Tish Hayes, information literacy librarian
If you’re worried about what’s going on in the world, experts say you should get involved with a cause you’re passionate about in order to make an actual difference. For example, volunteer with an environmental or civil rights group. Do a food drive. Protest. All of these will connect you with other like-minded people, an important consideration these days.
“One of the things that bad news does, it makes us feel helpless and hopeless,” said Hayes. “Whether you’re with other people and you’re doing something good with other people, you’re having the opposite feeling. Feeling connected helps counter that.”
Or maybe you’d rather just destress and do something less emotionally demanding. That’s okay, too.
“Find a hobby!” said Hayes. “Hobbies are great. Find some things. Maybe you spend extra time going for a walk, or doing something that requires your full attention. Take up an activity like some kind of craft or physical activity so that you can set aside your phone and concentrate on being in the moment.”
“I think I consume less than 10 or 20 minutes a day,” said computer science major Abdallah Salameh, 21. “I like to animate, and also write stories. Sometimes I like to learn how to code for a website. It’s really positive to learn.”
Learning is always a good thing, and you can get much more of it from doing things than from scrolling endlessly through news feeds. So put down your phone, turn off the TV, and engage with yourself and the world around you!
Velocity 
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