News...what is it good for?
The unrelenting horror and chaos of today's news stories is killing us
Once up a time, I was a daily newspaper reporter in the days before the internet. Yes, those days actually existed. We had an afternoon deadline and used to joke that the definition of news was whatever facts we could gather by 5 p.m.
I can’t imagine the pressure today’s reporters and producers are facing when the deadline is, well, every moment.
But even back in the olden days of the 5 p.m. deadline, one of the things that got to me was the sheer relentlessness of news. It happens every day! Big stories, follow-ups, little stories, exclusives and it never stops. There’s no actual day off. Events happened even on my days off and of course, if that was your beat, you had to cover them.
It takes a physical toll. I was 30 pounds heavier then than I am now. I was always grabbing some soggy mayo-soaked sandwich or a couple of hot dogs on the go. I didn’t have a lot of headaches; I had one long headache that never went away. I ate Advil like they were Tic Tacs.
Then I got out an unenforced break because of a long newspaper strike. It was stressful but a chance for reinvention. I imagined and went looking for a job where I could take more time and cover stories for weeks or even months. I thought it would be for a monthly print magazine but it turned out to be a job at a television magazine. That’s what I do now. The average story at “48 Hours” takes about four months to produce although of course we can turn around or “crash” an hour of television in a day and sometimes we do.
I cannot imagine what working in daily journalism is like for reporters and producers these days. And it’s not only the never-ending deadline pressure. It’s the types of stories the world has experienced for the past couple of years—Trump, the election, the pandemic, and the epidemic of mass shootings and murder.
I get burned out even reading about them.
Eight people shot dead in spas in Atlanta, then ten in a supermarket in Colorado, and once more this week, eight more dead in Indianapolis. And that’s not all—an African American guy is shot to death instead of being Tasered, then a 13 year old boy is shot in Chicago while his hands are up in the air. Horrifying body cam videos are released seemingly on the hour.
The other day, when I woke up to the news of yet another mass shooting in Indianapolis, I threw my hands in air. No more. I stopped reading any more news that morning and opted for my meditation program. Then I played the soothing morning music playlist I’ve curated for myself on Spotify.
I just do not need to know all about this never ending horrific news. I have a life to live and I want my life to have some measure of peace. Mass killers be damned whoever they are. I don’t need to know their twisted logic or motive—they’re all mentally ill in my opinion.
I’m not alone in thinking that enough is enough. This morning, while scrolling through Twitter, I spotted a post by Tanzena Vega, (@tanzenavega) the host of “The Takeaway” morning show on NPR. She was lamenting how burnt out she is: “I can’t even describe the level of burnout I’m in after the past year.”
In response, Megan Greenwell (@megreenwell), the editor of WIRED announced she’s leaving the magazine for the same reason Tanzena cited—burnout. Another editor quit at the same time.
This steady diet of horrible news is not healthy my friends. Not for those who report and, honestly, not for those who read it. It’s one thing to be informed but do you really need to know the details of every tragedy? Why?
So here’s my advice:
Turn off that all news radio.
Read a novel.
Listen to some music.
Live your life.