News Health: We Have Too Much News

Happy Sunday,

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

We have too much news.
Back in July, I wrote about spending months consuming CNN, then—hard pivot—months consuming Fox (read that story).

While their differences were predictable and obvious, they both left me feeling the same way: angry, anxious, and thinking people who viewed things differently were stupid, evil, ignorant, or all three. 

I concluded that season of ramped-up news consumption with what I thought was the right approach all along: consume liberal, conservative, and centrist media together. After a few months of this third way, I was… still angry, still anxious, and still thought people who viewed things differently were stupid, evil, ignorant, or all three. 

Surprised, I theorized that I needed more balanced news consumption—assuming I was still feeling the lingering effects of drinking from the partisan firehose—but things didn’t get better. Just like when I had previously switched news sources, the direction of my anger, anxiety, and judgment changed, but the emotions were still there.

My problem wasn’t just my sources of news; it was the amount I was consuming. 

Being informed is not a virtue in and of itself, and being constantly informed about bad things outside your control (a.k.a. most of the news) will inevitably make you angry, anxious, and judgmental. This is especially true if you consume only partisan news, but it’s still true even if your news consumption is politically balanced.

Here’s your homework: fast from the news for one day this week. Pick a day, prepare, and consume zero news. 

What do you think?
Jason

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