Is anyone else limiting their news consumption?

I was just thinking the same thing as I scrolled through the WP & NT sites. I wouldn't necessarily say they want Trump, but it feels like practically a coronation - the next Trump presidency is inevitable. Everything is turning his way & against the dithering Dems. I try to think of the upside: all of these people who are on the face, indifferent or in love with that creep RFK Jr. better wake up. Plus that, it's early - plenty of time for the narrative to change.

But while I feel bad for Biden, at this point it just seems like he's delaying the inevitable & ultimately hurting fundraising efforts. The only path at this point is to make a bold move, energize the base & make donors feel like they're not just throwing their $$ away. So yes, I'm trying to avoid news consumption, but it's hard to avoid.

*on the fence*

I feel so much better when I manage to go a day without news. But then I come to DL, see all the Trump and Biden threads, and my blood pressure shoots through the roof again.

I REALLY need to

Yes, I am avoiding the news. I’m not even checking this site as often.

Yep. Just check headlines and move on. Have 140+ threads blocked here, down from an all-time hugh of 165 last week.

There's no material difference I can make from following political threads here. I learned that from getting on a froth about the 2004 election here and on the blogs, and we know what happened then. There's no need to make this year's extremely stressful situation more stressful, especially with so much discussion of third rail topics that bring out/encourage the worst of DL.

r6 how many threads can you block at once?

Yes. I gave up on cable news and network news in 2020.

Now I glance at the headlines at the NYT, WaPo and a few other sites. I'll read a few stories that pique my interest but nothing that just feeds into the Debbie Downer news addiction.

I don't think there's an upper limit, but you do have to keep re-blocking when the odd blocked thread pops up again.

Thanks r9

Seriously, you are tired of political doom and gloom so you spend your time on DL? I dont think that makes any sense at all.

Yes, there is in fact an upper limit to ignored threads and the first one added gets knocked off once you pass that limit.

Not that ignoring threads helps one bit. Once you've seen the thread title, you're already demoralised.

*knocked off the ignore list

Rr5-Ditto

Have to admit I feel pretty hopeless right now and avoiding news seems to help. I’m voting blue in the fall no matter what but what more can an individual do? So much is out of our hands.

Same here, OP. Lots of entertaining reading (Anthony Horowitz and the Brodie Jackson detective books) and have been watching "Family" from start to finish and wishing I lived in their late-seventies world. I occasionally take a quick look at the Meidas Touch Network, which tends to put a more positive spin on the doom and gloom. I, of course, will be voting an all-Democratic ticket in November. I still think we can make this happen. The polls are no barometer at all and mainstream media are Trump apologists but many of us loathe him.

CNN does not come remotely close to DL as far as constant never ending doom and gloom and depression.

. In fact if doom and gloom was banned from DL I don’t know what we would have left except for attacks on Taylor Swift, the weekend meth driven threads, some actors I never heard of, and a long list of great threads on fav recipes .

Limiting your intake of television "news" is a very good idea for your central nervous system and your psychological health. Television news networks are big business and they manipulate the biochemistry of the viewer for ratings. It's that fucking simple. Click bait and "don't change that channel" are part and parcel of today's television news business. Talking about the major networks as well as FOX, CNN and MSNBC. You'd be better off watching cartoons. The endless "breaking new" banners, when there is no breaking news. Analysts who are deeply influenced by their employers or the network's agenda and anchors who are little more than demographic bait for an ever dwindling and fickle audience that has been taught belief confirmation IS news and that belief confirmation is something they are owed. They shop for news like you'd shop for a pair of shoes: They have to fit, be attractive and most of all be comfortable.

READ print journalism and focus on the facts of the story as much as the story itself. The NYTimes and WAP are loaded with bullshit and agendas but your central nervous system isn't being manipulated at the same intensity and your are at least able to see the facts, despite the trees.

Read a good newspaper and think about what you read. Then take a walk, read a book, have sex whatever with the time that you spend glued to the "Breaking News" bullshit

R15, I've been watching lots of Youtube videos and reading about Stoicism. It has really helped.

I fucking hate politics, politicians and people who make this shit a major focus of their life. I've posted on several political threads. I usually put in my 2 cents in one post then not engage again. I took Twitter off my phone which helped with my mental health and stress enormously. I have not been a bigger reader of the A section of the NYTs for about two decades when I realized what a propaganda machine it is. I'll scan the headlines and will read a article if the headline seems contrary to the party line.

The media, academics and politicians really want to make ideology, politics, and the news a 24/7 part of our lives, and they have been largely successful. They always have but it has gotten much worse in the past 10 years. I try not to play their game.

FLUSH: NY Times, Wash Post, WSJ, CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC (except for Lawrence & Katie Phang) & Fox UNFOLLOW: Pundits, pollsters, celebrities, some legal analysts, certain Democratic politicians

I barely glance at the occasional headline. "In depth" reporting, talking heads....no. No way. It helps.

I am, too. I used to read NYT and the articles posted by The Atlantic and The NewYorker religiously but pretty much stopped reading their political coverage a few months ago. They are very much responsible for the current climate by not reporting on the actual facts but discussing the "vibes", "perceptions", etc. Basically, it's that mythical diner in Ohio where they NYT used to go for their "Cletus safaris" but amplified 1,000x on the national scale. To be honest, The NewYorker has been the least guilty of the three since they haven't been bothsiderizing much and the emphasis is still on the perils of Trump's potential win but it's just exhausting (the other two, NYT and The Atlantic, are too far gone in fiddling while Rome burns.) What infuriates me even more is that, should Trump win (God forbid), I know exactly what they will be publishing. I know that the actual printed media are suffering and clickbait is the only way they can attract more subscriptions but, at some point, you have to think that social responsibility and journalistic credibility appears somewhere on the radar.

I haven't followed news on TV and social media in a long time, since it's been like wading into a toxic sewer for quite some time.

I should've added: I still read a lot of non-political content in the said publications and there have been so many good books published in the past 4-5 years that passed me by for some reason that catching up with them now instead of getting myself mad and worried feels very rewarding.

I agree r23. I love some of The Atlantic's longform pieces on non-political topics.

I noticed years ago when the EYEWITNESS NEWS phenomena started that I was getting suckered into the, "if it bleeds, it leads" and "doom and gloom but wait, we'll end the broadcast on a happy note and you'll know we are always here for you" bullshit. What they were showing every evening was not my reality but it was certainly poisoning my sense of my reality. When I realized that, I would sometimes watchly only to analyze the manipulation.

Great read for anyone trying to figure this out right now. It was written in the mid-80's, but was totally prescient and has stood the test of time.

I've decided not to watch anything but Big Brother. By the time that ends, it will be close to election day, so I will come out of BB House with the winner!

After the 2016 election, Hubby and I turned off cable news and exclusively read the NYT and WaPo, our local paper's website, and many publications mentioned here. It was the only way to stay sane after watching Trump cheat with the Russians, FBI, and Maureen Dowd attacking Hillary every day for over a year. I thought she was an aberration at the Times and she did cool it for a while, but she and now her colleagues are hell-bent on destroying our only party interested in actual governing.

So it was deja Vu when the SCOTUS handed Trump complete immunity for his crimes. I had to turn off cable. The Times has turned to a politics section that is not even worthy of lining a birdcage. If they didn't have the preeminent cooking section and Wordle, I'd cancel my subscription today. But due to the way they they screw long time readers with exorbitant rates, my cheap subscription runs out in a few months and I think I'll detox, let it lapse completely and just view articles of note on one of the archive sites. It's pretty rare they write anything worth going to the effort of looking elsewhere to read it regardless, so I'm kind of going through a period of mourning as I disengage from the Old Gray Lady.

On the plus side, I've discovered that most of what I want to watch on cable is now consolidated into one streaming subscription with HBO Max which I subscribed to catch up on The Gilded Age and watch Barbie with my niece and her husband when they came for a visit last month. My cable is included with my HOA which I've considered a real plus until now. It won't make any difference if I cancel my cable; I'll still be paying for it so I might as well keep it. However, I also pay for three DVRs plus DVR service — billed separately so that Comcast can still screw you — and I'm going to return two of the DVRs and see if the remaining one can be substituted for the one connection device we get under our group contract. If I still have to pay for DVR service, I'm thinking of getting rid of the DVRs entirely and just go back to a basic cable box. But if I can reduce my portion to zero, it'll be enough to pay for Max, Paramount+ and Peacock so I can stream MSNBC and NBC when there's something so major I have to watch talking heads, and still save about $20 a month. I hate Spectrum.

What I can't believe is the boost in mental health that turning cable news off wrought despite feeling the same way post election night 2016. I hate that disengagement is the only way to survive our current political climate, but it's tough watching everything that I've worked for (politically) being ripped away because the angry old straight white Christian men have to have their way and are willing to burn the country down if they don't get it. They aren't going to like it any better than where we are now, but there's no point in telling them.

In America, we eventually do the right thing... after trying everything else first. This will be no different. I just hope I'm alive to see the renaissance of democracy and freedom.

[quote] My cable is included with my HOA which I've considered a real plus until now... However, I also pay for three DVRs plus DVR service — billed separately so that Comcast can still screw you...

R28 I used to have Comcast, but moved to a new community which has cable and internet included in my HOA. My new company, OpticalTel, gives us one free box per household. Also, we have unlimited storage because the storage is in the cloud, somewhere. We also have a Roku for Netflix and a few others. It is so much cheaper without Comcast, but I must admit after five years I still used my Comcast internet address. For some reason, it's free as long as I keep using it whether I am a Comcast patron or not.

I have completely tuned out as best I can. I am not a heavy media user anyway.

No cable, no cell phone, rarely listen to radio, digital only newspaper, no social media AT ALL.

I know which party I will vote for in November, so all the hoopla and noise is just that till Election Day.

I decided yesterday to not even read the political threads on The DL anymore. I will, of course, not even post replies. Maybe they'll die a slow death and we can get back to focusing on the more important things in life, like the Golden Girls.

Everyone has plan until they get punched in the face, like Biden withdrawing from the race.

...heading to X (formerly known as Twitter) as I type

Absolutely because now all we are going to hear about is all the dirt on the person that is running. Half MAY be the truth, the rest of it lies.

I pretty much avoid NYT and Wapo.

I've stopped doom-scrolling before bed and replaced it with reading a book. Much more enjoyable way to end a day.

YES!

Always.

Yes. I'm also ceasing contact with certain family members too - those who like to talk politics. Got invited to an event in August by one that I responded to tentatively. I will of course decline closer to the date. This will continue for the foreseeable future.

That's what happens.

I'm also blocking all political threads here.

I listen to MSNBC, David Pakman and Jesse Dollemore. MeidasTouch and Brian Tyler Cohen in limited amounts.

My respect for Cenk Ugyur has evaporated over time. And yesterday he was insufferable with his smug, self-centered musings on Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. He and Ana both get on my nerves. Yesterday he made Biden’s withdrawal all about himself and his aborted campaign for president.

I can tolerate Jon Iadarola but only because he is hawt. But kill the multicolored hair Jon. He’s much more rational than Cenk or Ana

Same with Kyle Kulinski, whose teeth look like crap because of his vaping. He thinks Marianne Williamson should be president 😒🙄😒🙄. His wife and fellow vlogger Krystal Ball is way smarter than him.

R40 TL;DR

No.

😒🙄😒🙄

Yes, no need to go back to corporate media. There’s a planned blackout this week for the next 2 weeks. Turn it off, cancel, unsubscribe. Through the 4th of August.

Support independent media. The Daily Beans, Meidas Touch, Taking Feds.

I found the NY Times balanced this morning, basically saying Harris has the possibility of pulling it off, with just the right strategy. For those worried about the youth vote, she's tuned into pop culture as opposed to the 78 year old, and his priggish running mate.

NY Times will have to work harder in order to make me interested again in what they have to say.

[quote]The Daily Beans

The Daily Beans sounds like the name of a coffee shop on a Portlandia sketch.

I’m actually tentatively stepping back in. The Harris nomination has been received much better than I thought it would. It puts Trump in a bad spot, now he’s the old, senile one.

I followed it again in the weeks following the announcement of Kamala's candidacy, but I am back to very limited daily news consumption.

Gee this is an old thread!

I’m unsubscribing from Brian Tyler Cohen because he has false advertising. He’s just rehashing the same old stuff and shamelessly clickbaits.

I hate media coverage when it comes to politics and, like OP says, if you know how you're voting you don't need to hear all the propaganda and lies.

Election season feels like a circus and it's becoming that way here in the UK as well. Populism sucks.

Agree r50

I am wired and tired and feeling like a fool. I know we can’t legislate our way out of all our problems. I know any good work we do vote for will take years to enact and show benefits.

As R26 wisely shares, I demand resolution within one season and the only loose ends must be interesting enough for a spin-off legislation session.

The stories are now framed in MCU hero and villain fashion. They provide a ridiculously stupid bad guy ( Newt, Helms, Rove) who is somehow all powerful and scary. We’re also provided a strong hero who has had power all along, but has a specific blockage (?) that has mysteriously prevented them from legislating the peoples’ will so far and, given more power/money will magically start doing a something.

I try to limit but end up-down rabbit holes. I guess I’m trying to understand why 80+ million Americans want an authoritarian take over-outside US is same “Only a Dictator will do”

R53, 50% of white women voters cast their lot with Trump in 2020. I cannot pretend to understand women. It’s fortunate for all that I’m gay.