"Oh I never watch the news"

[oklumberjack]

Ok, I feeling really judgemental about this I'll admit, but here goes.

I went out for dinner this week with some school mum's from the primary my dd has just left. These women are acquaintances of mine. Nice women, friendly but I don't consider them my closest friends.

Over the course of lunch, we were discussing our summer etc. I mentioned the Olympics and something about Theresa May. They all looked blankly at me. All 5 of them said they hadn't seen any Olympics and had no idea how we'd done. 3 of them had not even heard of Theresa May. The conversation then got on to how they never watch the news, or read a newspaper or even access it online. As soon as news comes on they turn over. I was shocked. I kept very quiet that I'm a Radio 4 and 5live listener, avid Daily Politics watcher and rather enjoyed watching the cycling,rowing and diving at the Olympics on the BBC.

However they could tell me all about Love Island, Big Brother and TOWIE which is where the conversation went next. I felt really out of place. They seemed to think that being interested in the news made you some kind of snob.

Ok, so we're out of step in what we like. We probably won't hang out much in the future, however please tell me I'm not really unusual in checking in with the news at least twice a day!

I'm struggling to realise she wasn't joking.

3 of them had not even heard of Theresa May.

This kind of ignorance blows my mind. Unless you've been holed up in an underground bunker for the past few years how could you not at the very least know that she's a Tory politician.

Very rarely watch the news as I found myself getting obsessed over news stories this causing anxiety. Found much better to have headlines on my phone so I am aware what is going on but not to the point of always knowing ins and outs. A lot of news stories are "bad" news stories and never always seem to be the full story. For myself this is my reason.

I get where you're coming from, OP.

If you're someone who has any sense of intellectual curiosity, there are few things more soul destroying than meeting people who not only have no interest in anything outside of their own little bubble, but are proud that they have no interest. It's like meeting people who will proudly tell you that they have never read a book.

So politics is irrelevant .....until your local council is elected with a majority of a different political party and decide to double your council tax ...or the recent proposal by Theresa May to allow the opening of more grammar schools after a decades long ban on opening new ones, Or an imaginary future government deciding to bring in compulsory national service for all young people when they leave education.

All of these are political actions and most people would find them very relevant to their personal lives , would you want to be a part of those discussions and their impact .....or would you rather just watch TOWIE. People who think politics aren't about them and their lives are missing the point.

I think TV news is mostly obsolete. A communications channel where you have no editorial control over what goes into your brain seems archaic, compared to using the internet.

Absolutely. I never watch the news on TV - it feels like a great way to waste my time.

I do follow a variety of news outlets on FB and twitter though (BBC, NY Times, The Independent, Reuters, plus specific-interest sources for sports, music, etc.) so I keep pretty well up-to-date with things. I've actually hidden almost every person from my FB feed apart from my 20ish closest friends and family so it's mostly a news website (literally a news feed!) for me now.

OP, I'm pretty sure you know that you're not in a minority. Glad you didn't get preachy about it, though. Personally, if somebody was talking about TOWIE and the like, I'd at least try to steer the conversation onto some REAL quality reality TV, like Masterchef or something.

It's like meeting people who will proudly tell you that they have never read a book

I always take things like that with a pinch of salt, since it's clearly a self-defence mechanism.

Jesus MidnightScribbler! Did you hit her over the head with a dictionary?

Unfortunately my contract prohibits me from physical abuse towards parents, even when they truly deserve it. There was just no reasoning with this woman, she was convinced I was trying to promote certain politics in the classroom. Even the assistant principal came in an was trying to explain to her, but she just didn't get it. I drank a lot that night (and made sure her child wasn't in my class the following year!).

It's like meeting people who will proudly tell you that they have never read

I love reading! But I read fiction. Dd seems to have inherited my passion for reading too

My Dh had never read a book when I got with him. But he has dyslexia and was never given any support so he gave up. He can now read a small story as I had the patience to help him

Starry, May isn't 'acting' PM. She IS pm, and will be until she either resigns the role or is defeated in a general election.

There is a problem with how news programmes operate but they are spending to market forces. To have no idea who the leader of the country you live in is, as an NT adult is something I am not embarrassed to judge someone negatively on. I understand people are busy, work crazy hours, have kids, have to somehow get by. However it's still, to me, ridiculous not to know who the pm is.

(well this is AIBU ...)

of course anti-intellectualism is a powerful tool for those that would oppress us (the old canard about being doomed to repeat history).

Just to drop a hint of conspiracy theory into the mix, would it be fair to suggest that there's an element of deliberateness in the fact that in England there are a large number of wilfully ignorant people ? It certainly hasn't done the Tory party any harm.

I have no problem if someone doesn't know something - there is plenty of stuff I don't know. In fact (and I may be going out on a limb here ) there is probably more I don't know than I do. I may be surprised at someones ignorance. But I certainly wouldn't judge them for it - especially if it leads to learning and understanding on both sides. (I love asking people about their culture and religion and way of life ... I actually start conversations with taxi drivers).

I have an enormous problem with wilful ignorance, and will judge people accordingly. My in-laws were perfect examples who would continue making "funny" remarks even when they damn well knew they were offensive. "Oh dear, how did you hurt your head ?" to a Sikh wearing a turban was probably side-splittingly funny in 1816 (given Britains long history with India). Less so in 1966, and certainly not in 2006, 10 years after I had pointed out it was offensive.

Be curious if the OP had noticed whether they felt the people in question were noticeably racist ?

I wonder how people who never watch the news actually manage to function?

That's a ridiculous thing to say and I'm someone who consumes all kinds of news.

However it's still, to me, ridiculous not to know who the pm is.

It goes deeper than that, for me. By choosing not to be informed, it implies a complete lack of awareness as to how the actions of the PM, Government, local council or even the Governors of your DC's school affect you.

That is ignorance.

I wonder how people who never watch the news actually manage to function

Considering I am a sahm and my children aren't in school yet, we function just fine. We walk everywhere and if I need to know if a road is blocked, a quick Google will tell me

Ha, when you mentioned Theresa May, i forgot she was PM.

Lurking, I've never heard any racism from this group no. Although like I said, they always been acquaintances so we're not too close.

I agree, there's plenty of stuff I don't know. I wouldn't dream of thinking I did.

Soubriquet What about things like product recalls? Public health notifications? Local emergency service request for people to stay inside due to fumes from a fire, for instance? Amber alerts for missing children? Requests for witnesses to an incident to come forward? Closure of a shopping centre or attraction due to a power failure?

Some of those are just inconvenient not to know about, but others can have serious consequences.

FB. A friend or two usually posts them up

Our "news" has become rubbish though. Often sensatioalised, overly graphic - diluted by reporting on things that are meaningless to us. 24/7 from every corner of the globe, every salscious gory detail. Not surprised folk are tuning out. I don't need to know that a grandfathet in Upper Swaziland ate his brothers little toe from hus left foot.

I used to think same about my sil. She never watched news or read a paper - oblivious. Then she told me - she lived alone, she supported herself - last thing she wanted was to be sitting of an evening on her own after a long day at work and before bed - taking in the pain of the world, the destruction, corruption, injustice. Can't say that i blame her.

I don't watch the news but I don't watch towie etc or the olympics. I don't really watch tv. I used to make a huge effort to be well informed. Now I don't care anymore

At least they weren't home educating so the poor child had some chance!

I see it as a bit of a social duty to know something about how your country is governed and what MP's are cocking cooking up next. You only have to look at the quality of the Brexit debate from both sides to realise the danger if people rely on soundbites, headlines and what is trending. Politicians are making decisions that might affect you directly e.g. Pension and Child Benefit changes or bringing in things that can affect the type of society we live in.

TBF Theresa May hasn't done much yet beyond repeating that Brexit means Brexit and announcing a review into inequalities in Britain. We all know vaguely what they are but a government review will allow her to put off doing anything about them.

I don't feel my world view is enhanced by knowing those two snippets of news about our Prime Minister.

However, my heart was warmed when Clyde the turtle was almost reunited with her rightful owners on Sky News yesterday. Sadly they missed the actual moment and I feel the reporter probably had a big dressing down about that.

Some would deplore pure and noble news being polluted by such nonsense. But I and the Guardian say no.

Clyde is a girl btw.

I have just watched the film Suffragette and I find it incredibly sad that some women in this country don't know or seem to care that we have a woman Prime Minister for only the second time in our history. As well as a woman First Minister of Scotland. Women have only had the vote for less than 100 years (women over 30 were the first to get the vote in 1918) if we don't educate ourselves how can we make our vote count?

Perhaps they agree with Henry David Thereau

“To a philosopher all news is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.”

“And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter, - we need never read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications?”