Adults should actually know what’s going on in the world?

[Dailywalk]

Is it important to keep up to date on ‘current affairs’. What would you think if someone said they’d rather be unaware of what is going on in the news. If it’s something that’s really important and will affect them then they will find out eventually. It doesn’t change to know al the ‘details’

Interested to know what people think. Is it important to be aware of what’s going on in the news?

Yikes - I read the news a lot and am interested in what is happening around the world. I do have a low opinion of those who aren’t interested.

I go through periods of avoiding the news as best as I can. I find it makes me anxious and negatively affects my day to day life.
I read up on things when I feel I need to know about it.
Eg. Referendums and elections- I educate myself before I vote.
Some days I fine to read the news but by god sometimes it’s depressing. I’d love to see a bit better balance with a higher proportion of positive news stories in with all the doom and gloom.
I keep up to date on current affairs but in my own way.

It is a wildly privileged position to be in to avoid the news. Some people are living these atrocities.

I think there’s a balance though. As adults who have the right to vote and make a change then you have the responsibility to know what that means and to make an educated choice. But you can choose where and how you get your news to protect your mental health and sanity.

I really dont understand why it bothers someone else if I don't watch the news. I don't weigh in on conversations or debate about things I dont know about... I don't vote (I know, shock horror) because I am not informed enough to make a helpful contribution. I am not responsible for brexit, and the country won't fall apart if I am not totally up to date on it all. I mind my own business, focus on my family and keeping afloat. Trying to carry the misery of the world is too much for me.

Other than not being able to have a conversation about these events, how on earth does this affect anyone else? I'm not in a position of any power or influence, so what I do is my own business.

I don't want to be ignorant to the world around me, but I also don't want to travel through life baulking under the weight of all that fear and human suffering. So I keep an eye on the news, but I don't get immersed

I've done both. Followed news closely, as a hobby, almost, and stopped giving it any attention whatsoever. Guess what? It really didn't make a difference. The world went on the same as usual without me staying up to date.

I think we should do whatever we want. We should inform ourselves prior to voting in any elections, but other than that... meh, whatever.

There's a middle ground between subsuming oneself in every bit of fluff and information floating around and not knowing a single thing about anything.

One can choose to filter information based on importance, relevance, etc and go to town on the details of what's happening when necessary. I don't need to know everything going on in every area of the world (No one can actually know this, let's not pretend we can) because it's information overload. I still happen to come across important information, read up on them thoroughly and make informed decisions. News/Information is everywhere unless you're totally off grid.

It's not one or the other.

I was brought up seeing my parents always watch the 6pm or 10pm news (or both) and have always done the same as an adult. I would feel strange not knowing what's going on in the world, and enjoy finding out about things and learning something new.

@MrsTerryPratchett

If you don't care and don't engage, that's your choice.

But don't then think your reckons are as right as my properly thought out, reasonable, considered, educated opinion.

Choosing to know nothing, read nothing and learn nothing? Great. Avoid referenda!

But OP said "news" which I took to mean news media? Apols if I got that wrong

But it isn't choosing to know nothing.

I would have agreed with you Op 2 years ago. And I do have good current affairs knowledge. But I am now of the view that ignorance is bliss and I am thinking of completely cutting out “news” from my life for a few months and just listening to audiobooks and history podcasts, I think my life will improve immeasurably!

I listen to Today while I’m getting ready in the morning, and we often catch Channel 4 news in the evening. I like to be up to date but can’t be doing with rolling news - I like to hear a story once it’s certain what has happened.

I was/am a bit of a news junky. Well, to be accurate, a politics junky. During lockdown 1, I stopped watching the news on tv. I couldn't handle the daily number of cases and deaths. As a cev person, I just could handle it.

By about september, I was back reading my daily paper and catching the news.

Sometimes it's necessary for your mental health to just let it go for a time.

Having said that, I really find it difficult when people say they are not interested in politics. Our lives are managed, in nearly every particular, by politics. From where you can shop, what you can buy and how much you pay. It includes where, and which house you live in.
It impacts on who and when medical treatment is available to you.
It can also impact on who you love. Since civil partnership, for example, it's easier (not easy) to live someone openly, of the same sex.

@sashagabadon

I would have agreed with you Op 2 years ago. And I do have good current affairs knowledge. But I am now of the view that ignorance is bliss and I am thinking of completely cutting out “news” from my life for a few months and just listening to audiobooks and history podcasts, I think my life will improve immeasurably!

You can do both! I do.

Some of you posters just scream, "Dunning Kruger Effect."

I like to know pretty much what's going on. I never watch the news on tv though - I flick through the headlines online and read the odd arricle. I don't really find my mood is affected by the news much, but I can understand people avoiding it if it seriously gets them down.

Random round up

Today I haven't made an effort to listen to news

For Europe, I heard the truckers are planning a demo similar to Canada

For London, where I live, I know the Met rolled out more widespread use of facial recognition today and put a group of officers at Oxford Circus and then proceeded to make a false ID of a black man. I know as a woman of colour I'm more likely to be misidentified in this tech so that's the sort of thing I will stop and pay attention to

Today, that's as much as I heard, without looking on a news site or paper. Obviously I know we are all getting much older before a heavily redacted version of Gray,ks report comes out but that's yesterday's news now.

Weekends, I will hear more.

@Tsuni - who is that aimed at please? I hadn't heard of it so looked it up, but im not sure if you are aiming it at those of us who don't like to watch the news or those who do to be honest.

I should have flagged MrsTerryPrachett there
Not being a consumer of news doesn't equal not knowing anything

But 'the News' is just what an editor has decided is worthy of printing or broadcasting that day, its a tiny percentage of all the things that have happened, its not the most important things. Watching, reading or listening to news shows only makes you 'informed' on the very, very narrow list of things an editor has decided will draw an audience. News is a business like any other.

I'm obsessed with the news but I can see why some people would rather not watch/read it. Much of it is terrifying and it's not wallowing in ignorance to protect your mental health if needed. I follow political news but completely skip over articles relating to children being hurt or animal abuse. They put pictures in my head that I can switch off from. I saw news footage of a child being hit by a car one time and it sent me into an awful depression for weeks because those images were stuck going round and round, making me cry. So I get it. I reaaly do.

@Bingomangoes

But 'the News' is just what an editor has decided is worthy of printing or broadcasting that day, its a tiny percentage of all the things that have happened, its not the most important things. Watching, reading or listening to news shows only makes you 'informed' on the very, very narrow list of things an editor has decided will draw an audience. News is a business like any other.

Precisely.

*can't switch off from

My (elderly) parents haven’t watched UK news channels for years. They look at Al-Jazeera now and then and occasionally listen to the World Service.

They fill their days with the wildlife in their country garden, their cats, walks in the Quantocks, favourite videos and DVDs and tea and scones every day at 4 o’clock.
In their eighties and seventies (mum and stepdad respectively), they are remarkably fit and healthy but realistically know that their time is now limited. They don’t want to spend it on anything that doesn’t enhance their day.
Their attitude used to frustrate me but having seen them come through the pandemic unscathed and mentally robust, I can completely appreciate where they’re coming from now.
(Both had difficult and traumatic lives as children and younger adults. They’re so happy now).

I think in general yes -but I think it's totally OK/normal/necessary to have periods of your life when you deconnect from the daily news cycle. I think its more important and enriching to have knowledge of the works and planet than of latest news update.

@MrsTerryPratchett

If you don't care and don't engage, that's your choice.

But don't then think your reckons are as right as my properly thought out, reasonable, considered, educated opinion.

Choosing to know nothing, read nothing and learn nothing? Great. Avoid referenda!

Your opinions are unlikely to be of such a high standard, oh wise one, unless you've spent a significant amount of time researching every news item. People who don't have the time to do so aren't stupid, just don't have the luxury of time.

This is because the majority of 'news' out there is biased clickbait.

Also - what's the definition of 'current affairs'? UK News? Radio/telly broadcasts? The homepages of news sites, like the BBC?

I get some daily newsletters, sometimes I do a deep dive by looking for more information.
But really, the amount of effort it takes to be 'truly well informed; on complex subjects, like the Afghanistan refugee crisis is a lot. There's no obvious answer. You'd have to know a lot of the background.