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?

No I don't watch the news because it's so depressing, it would be nice to hear about good things for a change and that would grab my attention. If it comes up on my newsfeed and it doesn't look positive I'm really not interested.

@gobbledygoook

Hmmm I think it depends. I often go a week or so without heavily consuming the news, it can be really depressing and morbid! But then if people are only getting their news from the main websites, then they're consuming heavily redacted and selective news anyway, so they're hardly "up to date", I think it doesn't really matter what people decide to read / not read.

Where do you go for more balanced coverage that doesn’t lean in any particular political direction?

When I am struggling to cope with life the first thing I cut is watching the news.

I agree.
I often read online newspaper articles but never watch the actual news.

Not only is it very depressing but it actually only covers certain things and ignores many others.

My DCs CM used to watch the news in the mornings and after school and I would hate it because if you’re watching that everyday but not being able to do anything about it it must get depressing.

"Ignorance is Strength"

1984 - George Orwell

I think it’s important - not just to know about what is happening in the world but also to know what is happening domestically and also to understand why things happen etc.

I don’t watch the news on TV but I scan the news online and I also listen to various current affairs programmes on radio 4 - on catch up radio, usually when cooking or cleaning the kitchen.

I noticed this for example with the current high energy prices - lots of people on different threads seemed completely oblivious as to why it was happening and that it wasn’t just certain U.K. suppliers putting their prices up etc.

@notimagain

If you don’t care, don’t follow, then please don’t vote.

I couldn't agree more.

Before covid I was so up on domestic and international affairs. I loved reading about what was going on. But during covid I realised that the standard of journalism was dire and the way we stumbled from day to day with contradictory reporting, sometimes even two articles published side by side contradicting the other so no one could definitively state what the truth was. The drive to get clicks on a site and even on TV media outweighed any sort of morality on reporting facts. All in all it made me question what could I really believe of what was being reported. I took a step back from reading and listening and my life has been so much more positive and laidback.
People on here who claim they are well-informed are probably wrong. They may be well-read but, sadly, they have no idea if they are well-informed.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Wish I could remember where I heard it, but read an article lately which cited a study that found that highly engaged people were less likely to have an informed view of the world - they are more likely to have a highly partisan, ideological view of the world.

Without a decent source that's apocryphal. Which is ironic, or something!

I know! I knew it as I posted ! But I think there's truth to it.

These days, the news landscape is so fragmented and so ideological.
You could spend 8 hours a day marinating in - I'm picking US stuff to avoid rows - MSNBC or Fox News. They are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, both their main hosts have been categorised by watchdogs as being entertainers who are not bound exactly by truth rather than serious journalists who are.
You would be totally informed, if you watched them 8 hrs a day. It probably is the facts, but the framing and the tone and the sly little adverbs are telling you what opinion to form.

@madisonbridges

Before covid I was so up on domestic and international affairs. I loved reading about what was going on. But during covid I realised that the standard of journalism was dire and the way we stumbled from day to day with contradictory reporting, sometimes even two articles published side by side contradicting the other so no one could definitively state what the truth was. The drive to get clicks on a site and even on TV media outweighed any sort of morality on reporting facts. All in all it made me question what could I really believe of what was being reported. I took a step back from reading and listening and my life has been so much more positive and laidback. People on here who claim they are well-informed are probably wrong. They may be well-read but, sadly, they have no idea if they are well-informed.

I absolutely agree with this.

I do agree that 'news' is mostly toilet water. Read the 'news' then look for the study it's actually talking about. Or talk to people from the community in question. Or whatever.

I'm lucky in that I'm nosy and have ADHD so I am very curious and digest a lot about varied things quickly.

And yes, if you read one source, you don't have a picture, you have a side.

I know pretty much what’s going on but I actively avoid the covid numbers. I follow all guideline (and more) but don’t want to know the actual numbers.

I try to keep up to date but there is a limit to how many things I can properly inform myself about. I try to pick the bones out of a range of news sources, nearly all of which have some bias. I will make more of a concerted effort with really big issues.

I have a friend who actively avoids any news, her mental health isn't great and that's how she takes care of herself. She says if something big happens to affect her she'll find out about it at the time and won't have wasted hours worrying about it.

I don't judge anyone for not knowing what's going on in the world unless they have strong opinions based on zero information and by that I don't mean opinions I disagree with.

@MrsTerryPratchett

I do agree that 'news' is mostly toilet water. Read the 'news' then look for the study it's actually talking about. Or talk to people from the community in question. Or whatever.

I'm lucky in that I'm nosy and have ADHD so I am very curious and digest a lot about varied things quickly.

And yes, if you read one source, you don't have a picture, you have a side.

I agree. That's why I get so mad at the both Defund the BBC crowd and the anti GBNews crowd. They are both saying what many people are thinking.

@MrsTerryPratchett

I do agree that 'news' is mostly toilet water. Read the 'news' then look for the study it's actually talking about. Or talk to people from the community in question. Or whatever.

I'm lucky in that I'm nosy and have ADHD so I am very curious and digest a lot about varied things quickly.

And yes, if you read one source, you don't have a picture, you have a side.

So you don't mean what you said earlier?

While I agree that in a democracy we should all keep abreast of the big issues of the day, it can be very necessary for some people to avoid news for a while. If you're suffering from anxiety and depression, the news can make you feel much worse, and it aids recovery to give the news a swerve.

What happened to the lighter news items they used to end with on the telly, the 'And finally' stuff? At least that lightened the tone at the end and you came away feeling a bit more upbeat.

Yes I do @EmmaH2022

I was specifying that only reading news isn't being properly informed.

I often take breaks from the news. If I’m anxious the last thing I need is to hear about a million bad things happening all over the world.

I’m not sure it’s healthy to know so much about things you can’t do anything about.

It's wrong for people to say , as above, that people who don't immerse themselves in news shouldn't vote.

"I want things to stay as they are" is a valid perspective that lawmakers have a duty to represent.

@1Week

It's wrong for people to say , as above, that people who don't immerse themselves in news shouldn't vote.

"I want things to stay as they are" is a valid perspective that lawmakers have a duty to represent.

But that would be from a terribly narrow understanding of "things" and "as they are"? That may be good enough for local elections, but what good would that be for general elections? The world doesn't stay as it is. And politicians are always proposing change (even the ones calling themselves "conservatives", even the ones promising to bring us back to a mythical golden era set firmly in the past)

You can't make truly informed decisions if you don't understand how so many things are intermeshed (gas prices or Brexit, anyone?) in an overwhelmingly globalised world.
This isn't just about current affairs mind you. A knowledge of history would help... To understand, for instance, that isolationism never works.

"I want things to stay as they are" really isn't a rational adult wish, by the way. The only constant in life is change. You can't just wish reality away, we all have to go with the flow. Time only travels in one direction.

I SHOULD know more but Cbeebies doesn't cover it at present.

You’d have to be ignorant to not want to know what’s going on in the world. It’s sad when people wear stupidity like it’s a badge honour. That said, if you do keep up date with what’s going, don’t believe everything you read and hear. Always follow the money to make your own mind up about what’s really going on, especially on political matters.

I used to keep my self updated on all the current affairs and local and geo politics. But then I realised it was all just a repeat. Same things, different times. Nothing changes and the news are just spreading misery. I still try to keep in touch, but do I need to know all that? Unless I am doing something meaningful to bring a change, is it worth it? People never learn from their mistakes and we go back to the beginning of the cycle every few years. What's the point?

Think it good to limit news but I find those who think it applies to them are lucky I've made 7 headlines in 7 years due to government neglect which has almost killed me. Totally get people feel the best thing is to not care because it don't effect them.

There’s a difference between understanding what’s going on in the world and absorbing click bait shite.

I now live on a tiny Caribbean island and we don’t have live stream TV. I check in on the bbc, or Huffington Post to see what’s going on, and if there’s anything specific I’ll review other news sources.

But I hate click bait news, I don’t give a shit about celebrities and hate having my heart broken when I read about children or babies being killed by their parents.

Ignorance isn’t bliss but I allows me to absorb actual world news that’s relevant to me or gives me an opportunity to do something about. But more and more, the “news” doesn’t serve to inform, merely terrify or bring people to uproar because none of it is neutral, it’s biased and cruel.

People can’t trust the media and shit media breeds stupidity amongst people who aren’t educated enough to realise that the Daily Mail isn’t accurate reporting.