To never watch the news or read a paper again?

[HeadMeetSand]

People being raped/murdered, animals being made to suffer horrendously, drowned or starving children, pain, death, terror and a relentless unfairness.

I read about it, I watch it. It haunts me and I find myself crying about it, agonising about it.

And the truth is I can't do anything meaningful to stop it. I donate, give gifts, sign petitions, go on marches.

Nothing ever really changes. I don't have the money or the power to really do something about the injustice and those that do, don't do anything meaningful either.

I tried it, just for a week. We didn't buy any newspapers, watch or listen to any news and I actually felt peaceful.

No doubt there are still atrocities happening but I was blissfully unaware of them. And actually able to sit back and enjoy my life, where luckily, for now, nothing bad is happening.

I intended it to only be for a week, but I think I will purposely create a little bubble of ignorance in our home forever. Wibu?

I stopped reading the papers. I was struggling to sleep at night. Awful stories like children being snatched in front of their parents, abducted, murdered...that horrendous man who murdered his baby today (Thanks DH he told me about that one when he got in) ...The Daily Mail was always running stories from China and places where people had got trapped in lifts and died or died from falling off an escalator whilst holding their baby etc etc.

I just couldn't see what benefit this was bringing to know this - and all those fathers who murder their kids just because they don't get custody etc. Just heartbreaking.

I do try to watch the main news just to see the headlines though.

1horatio

I understand how you feel, OP. I never watch television news, it is bad enough hearing about it on the radio or reading it. And then again, the news is so utterly biased, are we really being informed when we receive it or are we being manipulated for some other end?

I think having access to world-wide news is completely unnatural. In the olden days you would have only known what was going on in your own community and that can be enough to deal with at times.

I was in tears watching those children in Aleppo on the news this evening and not knowing if my donation will even reach them because some of the charities are skimming off money to give their employees big salaries.

baconandeggies and StarUtopia yes those are the sort of Ines I mean, the ones that are still haunting your months/years later. Just seemed to be a new one every day lately.

Those are the ones I've felt most helpless about. I can see no way of stopping things like that/helping.

People abusing and killing their own children/animals in horrific ways.

I actually used to fantasise about being gifted supernatural powers and simultaneously turning everyone capable of such cruelty into a worm!

We don't buy papers and I don't watch the news either. I find it depressing at times, plus it's repeated a lot. I will however watch the headlines, so I know what's going on.

• i don't think I'm insular or thick
• i would like everything to be nice (who wouldn't).

-I don't think I turn a blind eye to everything, I know what the main news is.

Can I recommend Al Jazeera? International news and very little sensational abuse porn.

MrsTerryPratchett I've heard of that before, I think I'll check it out.

Your posts have given me a bit of a renewed sense of hope. I think I could keep up with events if I could just avoid the sensationalist blood and gore 'this person murdered their baby in this horrific way today' bits.

I want to keep caring and helping, it's just been too much lately.

Al Jazeera is great. But whenever they do a report on my home country they fail to understand any kind of social or political nuance.

So, I'm not sure how reliable they are.

buddhistbugs.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/star-fish-story.html?m=1
I find this helpful when I feel overwhelmed by it.

And never think your generosity does nothing. I work for a charity and if people could feel how I feel when someone is relieved or when they stay housed or when they realize life isn't completely shit, they would realize that it is all worth it.

Can't change everything. I rely on other people to do their bit!

Sailing the starfish story is a good thing to remember. Focus on what you can do. Nothing comes from fretting about what you can't do.

MrsTP I do voluntary work and the feeling when you have made a difference for one person is amazing. The world hasn't changed, often in what I do that persons difficulties and challenges haven't changed either, but in that moment I made a difference for them. It's a hell of a thing and an absolute privelige.

OP - you are quite right to think about limiting access to the news.
It is only in the last 20 or so years that as a society we have drowned in rolling 24 hour news. Before that our access to all the awful things that happen was limited, both in terms of television, radio and newspapers. Now it is almost impossible to avoid a 24 hour diet of horror.
We CANNOT individually take responsibility for all the terrible things that happen world wide and I would argue strongly that increasing levels of mental health issues are partially influenced by a media that seeks out the shocking, the awful and the depraved.
We should not only aim to protect our children from this overload but also ourselves. That is not to ignore wrongs in society, but much of this is driven be those seeking to sell their papers, tv channels, social media etc, and not by those good people seeking to overcome injustice. It does none of us any good and once you add in the toxic mix of those faking news, we just end up feeing hopeless.

Switch off, turn away and just make sure that we aim to do good in our own small world

It's a difficult balance. I watch the news but don't feel anything about human suffering - it doesn't upset me in the way that I think it should, iyswim. I think I have become desensitised to it all. I'm not proud of it, it just doesn't affect me. I do wonder if I'm odd though.

Animal cruelty has me in floods though.

augusta

Same

Even if you watch the news 24/7 you're not fully informed about all the ills of the world, horrendous atrocities don't make the news every day. Are the people who watch the news but don't independently seek out the unpublished news also either "thick" or pretending everything is nice Bolivar?

Why should the news on the news take priority in someone's circle of concern if they already have plenty, enough to be concerned about in their own life and local community?

At one point about 5 years ago I didn't watch news at all. I'm now consumed by it. Does that make a difference? maybe I'm now considering how I can make a difference.

I turned off the news for the first time in my life yesterday. I just couldn't listen for another second.

I have a habit of listening to the BBC news and boy do they love a disaster. If there isn't one currently on the go, they will do an indepth memorial to a disaster of the past.

In reality
(and I'm the girl who came away from fb as people stupidity annoyed me)
We are now more aware of global issues - good thing
We have more news reporting opportunities via social media which is a good or a bad thing
My 9yr old son makes a point of recording newsround every day and watches it in school (fricking love his teacher)

I watch and read a decent amount of news and documentaries. Being aware of what is going on always makes a difference, even if it only changes you. Learning about exploitation but also self inflicted abuse changed my view on porn, learning more about global warming, trash management and deforestation changed my buying habits, learning about the laws concerning native population and the evaluation of a healthy democracy influenced my view on politics.
Block out the sensationalist mess, but don't give up. By being aware you are inherantly part of the change no matter how small, as the say the ocean is made of drops.

As said above, indifference and ignorance are two of most precious tools to weaken a democracy. The politicians can do what ever suits them best if no one is paying attention.

I used to watch ch4 news religiously. Educated me greatly, but left me feeling low and made me despair of the world.
For example, i have donated to charities helping refugees but i still feel very guilty, helpless and frustrated by it all.
I miss the news but it's just been too much emotionally when there is nothing i can do to stop trump, help yemen or syria.
Possibly the catalyst for me was that little drowned boy and then the constant ukip / ultra right wing bastards dismissing it as nothing. Just left me disgusted of a large portion of humanity. Then there is the child abuse issues which of course need highlighting.. it's just all fucking weighing me down.
I may get back to watching the news later but for now, I'm avoiding them like the plague.

So yanbu.

There is just so much bad stuff happening now and so many heartbreaking situations . So many charities, so much fund raising ..So many homeless, so many famillies world wide with nothing it makes it hard to know who to give money to ... We cant walk down a shopping centre now without being stopped 2, 3, 4 times ... people selling the homeless mag, people collecting for this charity , that charity. Raffles for this and that. There is only so much money to go around regardless and it seems that even without the news , the world is in a pretty destitute place .

I'm surprised more people aren't desensitised by it all - so much horrific stuff going on, it's self preservation not to be upset by it all, surely?

LiviaDrusillaAugusta I used to be able to 'shut off' from parts of it but for some reason can't do that now. It's relentless.