Do you have views on the news?
Do you avoid it?
Binge it?
Believe it?
Or not trust it at all?
A recent article in The Guardian highlights a growing trend of news avoidance, with many people cutting back on their news consumption due to feelings of overwhelm and negativity.
Personally, I read The Guardian newspaper every evening, by which time the day’s news has already been thoroughly dissected on BBC Radio 5 Live (News and Sport), which I listen to throughout the day.
By the time I sit down to read, the present has already become the past, and the future is being written as I turn the page.
I can’t say I understand everything (like the rest of the world, I’ve no idea what the tariffs might mean). I sort of let it wash over me, absorbing it less like a sponge and more like an old piece of driftwood on the beach, slowly rotting.
The news is depressing. The news is fake. The news is old news?
But still, I think it matters. It’s part of my cultural intake, the first step in the creative process. Gather. Read more, see more, do more.
Imagine living in a world without news.
Blissfully unaware of global events we can’t influence.
No images of war, famine, destruction beamed into our homes.
No celebrity gossip.
No over-analysed sporting controversies.
No profiles of dull politicians, airbrushed into charisma to bump their ratings.
No ticker tape showing the stocks we don’t own go up and down, and down.
No weather maps.
No ‘...and finally’ pieces aiming to lighten the mood.
No discussion. No debate. No disagreement. No opinion.
Without the news, would we notice the silence?
Like a tree being cut in a forest,
if there’s no news being reported, is there really nothing happening?
I’ll continue to read the news (or watch it, or listen).
Besides, the idea of a world without crosswords is truly terrifying.