Anyone else find the news unbearable?

[AutumnalCosiness]

I used to listen to Radio 4 every morning. I just can't do it for more than a few minutes now.
It's so negative and aggressive, I just switch off.

I've stopped listening and watching.
Trump is going to win which will mean the world becomes aot more dangerous and the climate crisis will continue to rage unchecked.

I'm someone who always watched the news every day, notifications on my phone etc. and didn't understand people who never watched it. We have a responsibility to know what's going on in the world.
But even for me it started affecting my mental health recently. I couldn't take any more news about war, babies dying, stabbings, shootings, disease outbreaks. I've now deleted the news apps and haven't watched it in weeks.

It’s grim isn’t it? I have made a conscious choice to avoid reading the news and only briefly glance at headlines in the morning. I’m tempted to stop doing even that because even the headlines are grim! As previous posters have mentioned, we are not made for 24/7 rolling news coverage. Social media is even worse. I stick to books and lighthearted podcasts these days.

I deleted the BBC News app first thing this morning. I can’t take any more.

I haven't watched the news for about 5 or 6 years now. I really can't be bothered with the doom and gloom.

The majority of what's going on, doesn't have an impact on me, so I don't need to know.

I'm sick of reading about male violence. Whether that's in the Middle East or in the UK. It's everywhere. It's insufferable. I hugely reduced my intake in October last year and may delete the i app now despite having a subscription, all I get is breaking news notifications about missiles or Trump. I'm done.

I mean, other than the ME conflict, it is the most important thing happening on the world stage right now

God if Im honest I get most of my understanding of whats in the news from this site, I see current affairs crop up in thread headlines and pretty much work it out from there, I stopped reading newspapers/online or listening or watching the news years ago.

I used to be well informed with the news and kept up with politics probably more than the average person. But when all the Gaza news started on the back of Ukraine, i just switched right off. I have not watched the news since. I had just had enough of awful news out of my control.

And - with politics - NONE of the parties appealed to me. I did vote in the general election but really i could not get on board with any party.

I am nearly 60 and this is the first time i have felt like this. I was really a very good news watcher from my mid 20s til this.

I decided 25 years ago to stop watching the news regularly, and since then just dip in and out occasionally for short periods when I feel like it. It's so bad for our mental health and for what? Most of what's reported is awful and nothing we have power to change, which I know sounds defeatist but it's true.

Now I keep up with what's going on from MN and from my twice weekly commute to the office while I've got Radio 2 on. Sometimes I check in on my local news website but don't even do that much. My mental health is pretty good and I'm sure it's because I go out of my way to avoid the constant drip feeding of doom and gloom.

I’m going to avoid the news from today. I have to for my mental health.

It's sad but it's important that we're aware of what's going on in the world. If we think it's bad to hear about, what must it be like to live it?

I keep on top of the news because I know that we have a direct hand in a lot of what's going on in the world. I use the news to help form my voting intentions and my own opinions.

I won’t listen after 5pm nowadays or I can’t sleep. Such horrors.

Awful. I suppose it's not the news but the state of the world that's depressing.

I was an absolute news and current affairs junkie for years. Partly due to my line of work. I read at least 2 newspapers a day, had Radio 4 on in the morning and at night, watched at least 2 or 3 news programmes of an evening.

For most of the last 10 years I've done none of that. Can't recall the last time I bought a newspaper, listen to music if anything in the morning, actively avoid news on the tv.

I still use the BBC News App and get notifications but most of the time just scroll quickly past the headlines. That's enough. I keep up to date with issues affecting my area of work by speaking to colleagues and reading specific briefings.

It's been an absolute revelation how much better I've felt.

The photos on the BBC news website about the 100 weddings in one day was a nice start to my day though - very uplifting! I ignored the rest of the shit.

Many of us have grown up with a world that’s been comparatively (note, comparatively…) stable. Now we have the news 24/7 and sensationalist drivel from even the likes of the BBC. It’s like a drug. And not a good one.

Are there ANY impartial news outlets?

The podcast I linked to talks about HOW the news is reported. There is a striking difference between the headlines wrt the Middle East and those about Ukraine, and he uses the BBC as an example.

Something I find tedious is the criticism of absolutely everything.

Nothing is seen in a positive light.

New government barely been in power 5 mins and it’s just a constant onslaught about how awful they are - we have no idea yet!

I have found this with Jeremy Vine. People just shouting over each other, gave up watching it.

Same here OP. Used to listen to radio 4 news religiously, twice a day and enjoy doing so. But either don’t turn it on now or end up turning it off for big chunks again.

I gave up on the news some years back, and the pandemic finally stopped me watching - I liked news back in the days of the 6 O'Clock with Sue Lawley or 10.00 with Trevor MacDonald - it was 1/2 hour long and they just reported the facts of what was happening, there was no opinion given by the presenter or correspondent, they simply informed.

Now they drag on, all these hacks giving you their take, their opinion, or their broadcasters opinion. Its basically become incredible biased like newspapers are to the publishers politics.

I haven't watched the news for about 15 years. I got fed up of the blatant bias. The brilliant thing now is that there are other ways of keeping up to date with what's going on in the world and to hear a range of different views and opinions about it. I just decided I didn't want to be told what to think or be plunged into the concerns of others every single day in an uncontrolled way. I wanted to take more control over what I filled my mind with and what sense I made of things.

I’ve stopped reading and watching the news, DH tells me bits and bobs. I stopped a few weeks into Coronavirus for my own MH.

I realised yesterday that the Faily Mail online you can only read the full stories if you pay. I always read it before coronavirus. Part of me thinks I should but then I realise msnetters will generally start a post if there’s something I probably should know .

News is very specifically designed to affect the mass mood of the population.

Its designed to be negative and to cause anxiety.
Its a mood altering tool.

I never watch it anymore

I agree with all of this. Never watch/listen to news now. But I do listen to two Radio 4 podcasts (or ‘programmes’ as they used to be called).

One is ‘Newscast’, which is on daily and discusses one or two issues in greater depth, so I feel I have an actual understanding rather than just a feeling of horror at it all. The other is ‘When it Hits the Fan,’ which looks at two or three news stories from a PR perspective. Sounds odd, but I’ve learned a lot!

I can’t imagine ever listening to or watching the actual news again.