R: Avoid the News

At times, it can be difficult to escape the 24-hour news cycle. There always seems to be some breaking story demanding our attention, whether it's a natural disaster tugging at our fears and sympathies, or some politician whose latest statement makes us feel oh-so-outraged. Of course, this situation is precisely what the news media wants to achieve: in a never-ending race for clicks and advertisement views, all the incentives point towards news outlets being a black hole of attention. Perhaps we would feel more peaceful and less stressed if we averted our eyes from all the talking heads and endless news feeds, to instead focus on loving our families and serving our communities. Rather than listen to the same talking points on repeat, why not think through one's beliefs in quiet solitude, or in the company of respected friends?

Yet, despite their faults, today's news outlets are a far cry from the yellow journalism of late 19th-century America. MSNBC and Fox News may be superficial and biased at times, leading them to cover silly stories or emphasize a certain version of events, but little of what they present is really erroneous. And not all news is useless. Indeed, a political system that holds powerful figures accountable to the public requires that the public be informed. Why have freedom of the press, if nobody pays attention to what the press says? Perhaps we should not blame news outlets for overwhelming us with insignificant drivel, but rather reflect on how we might better filter our news consumption to identify information that is truly important.