“I am eager to hear your news, whether what you have heard is good or not … but we won’t object if you stay silent.” – Aeschylus, “The Oresteia”
The first cardinal sin among journalists is to be uninformed on current events. This summer I committed that sin. However, this article is not a confession, but rather a rebuttal against this rule.
From June until August, I unplugged from the news cycle. I deleted all my news apps. I would look away when I saw a TV flash the words “breaking news.” I even tried avoiding conversations about current events.
I was not hiding from the news, just taking a break from it. During the school year, I am what journalist Hunter S. Thompson called “a politics junkie.” I live for the constant updates and even enjoy getting bad news. However, at the end of last school year, I noticed I was getting overwhelmed with updates. So I unplugged.
During my little vacation, I learned three big things.
First, news takes up a significant amount of our time. Without my news updates, I found myself being able to do things I had never had the time for before. I literally had time to read “War and Peace.” Then on other days, I’d just enjoy the day at the beach without having to worry about the inevitable buzzing of my phone.
Second, I learned that most news is transitory. The majority of history, journalism and political science students (and perhaps business students) are taught to keep track of current events. This usually means that all of us think every news story is important and thus deserves a place on our timeline. However, this view is flawed.
When I unplugged, I realized how many “big news” stories ultimately amounted to nothing. Scaramucci, for instance, was fired and forgotten by the time I had even heard about him being hired. However, some things stick around a little longer — I will admit that I temporarily plugged back in when it came to Charlottesville. Once it became clear that the story and subsequent events were going to affect the rest of the year, I decided to bend my rule.
Third, I learned the world isn’t going to end. Chill out. As most communications students know, television news is framed to be more exciting and engaging than it probably needs to be. Whether it’s WWE-style advertisements for presidential debates, or countdown clocks that end in an uncomfortable town hall with a robotic congressman, the news is trying to keep us interested for the sake of ad revenue.
Getting people to read the news means it has to be interesting, and that means it has to be presented in a way that expresses urgency. News headlines scream, “IF YOU DON’T READ/WATCH THIS, YOU WILL DIE.” This method leads to news that is more or less pointless being framed as necessary to your well-being, which is simply not true.
I’m not trying to preach that we should just ignore the news. If we ignore the news, not only will people like me never get a job out of college, but democracy could also cease to exist … whichever comes first.
In sum, we don’t need to drop out of the news cycle, but we do need to be better content filters and establish our priorities. We need to learn how to look past the quick diversions and not take every tweet or statement as a proclamation of the end of the world. While democracy dies in silence, a moment of quiet will prevent us from going deaf.
