My Breakup With Certain Types of News

I get that it’s important to pay attention to current events, to read and watch the news and keep abreast of what’s happening in the world and community around me. During the 2016 election, however, I found too much of it negatively impacted my mood and mental well being. From discussions with other people, I wasn’t alone. Granted, election time news coverage, especially political news, is brutal. It seems, though, the amplification of anger and dread hasn’t subsided because (I don’t speak French, so excuse me when I say) a lot of our news coverage is shit.

I always thought the news sources I favor are pretty middle of the road, not too far left nor right. And they are, according to this chart of news media sources based on their bias . After some thought, I realized it’s the opinion pieces that seemed to elicit the worse emotional responses in me. I then realized I could certainly do without opinions. And because there still exists information sources that offer the pros and cons along side the factual reporting sans the opinion, turning off and tuning out the opinion is a no brainer. I think I’m better informed because of it, and, most definitely, my mental health is more stable.

A strong part of me does miss and sometimes seeks out the biased, opinionated news. It’s comforting, in a twisted way. Challenging thoughts are difficult. Work… Man, why can’t it all be easy.