I'm sure like most subscribers, I'm a huge news consumer. Given the firehose nature of news and opinions these days, though, I've spent the past two years practicing self-care to ensure I don't become like my mother, spending her last few years raging at talking heads on TV.
First, I don't watch TV news. Haven't for at least 2 decades. Not broadcast, not cable, not even local. I patch together my news consumption through a combination of national newspapers, nonprofit news sources, magazines, newsletters and radio. So that part is easy.
Second, I avoid Twitter and no longer engage in political discussions of any stripe on Facebook. Twitter, in particular, seems to be the source of so many of the battles I read about in Bulwark posts and elsewhere. I reserve Twitter for times of breaking news. Still pretty easy -- no bad habits to break.
Last, I'm limiting my exposure to opinion pieces. (This is harder, since opinion keeps intruding more and more into what I think are straight news stories.) I imagine that if I made a list of predictions over the course of the year from various writers I read regularly, it would be clear how often their prognostications are wrong. Some writers do that for us -- Russ Douthat regularly runs a January column that calls out things he got wrong the prior year.
Opinions are just that - opinions, and we all have them. They're influenced by our biases, by the news we choose to consume, and by process fouls (a wonderful column published on 1/2 from David French -- https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-places-where-truth-goes-to-die): "A process foul is any perceived breach of trust or decorum in the delivery of the message that distracts from the substance of the message...wrong messenger, wrong motives, wrong manner, wrong target." Very worth taking the time to read his entire piece.
The truly hard work is how to be an effective citizen and fight to preserve a democratic union. I wish I could say I've figured that out. Trump's election caused me to get deeply involved in making my own community a better place, and that has led to a deeper involvement in my city's politics. While trying to influence national directions and policies can be highly frustrating, I've learned that an involved person can make a big difference at the local level. And that's a start.
While I agree with you that most of TV is a pit, I do love Nicolle Wallace. She dedicates a LOT of time to the backsliding of American democracy every day, and our friends at the Bulwark get a ton of air time with her.
I'm sure like most subscribers, I'm a huge news consumer. Given the firehose nature of news and opinions these days, though, I've spent the past two years practicing self-care to ensure I don't become like my mother, spending her last few years raging at talking heads on TV.
First, I don't watch TV news. Haven't for at least 2 decades. Not broadcast, not cable, not even local. I patch together my news consumption through a combination of national newspapers, nonprofit news sources, magazines, newsletters and radio. So that part is easy.
Second, I avoid Twitter and no longer engage in political discussions of any stripe on Facebook. Twitter, in particular, seems to be the source of so many of the battles I read about in Bulwark posts and elsewhere. I reserve Twitter for times of breaking news. Still pretty easy -- no bad habits to break.
Last, I'm limiting my exposure to opinion pieces. (This is harder, since opinion keeps intruding more and more into what I think are straight news stories.) I imagine that if I made a list of predictions over the course of the year from various writers I read regularly, it would be clear how often their prognostications are wrong. Some writers do that for us -- Russ Douthat regularly runs a January column that calls out things he got wrong the prior year.
Opinions are just that - opinions, and we all have them. They're influenced by our biases, by the news we choose to consume, and by process fouls (a wonderful column published on 1/2 from David French -- https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-places-where-truth-goes-to-die): "A process foul is any perceived breach of trust or decorum in the delivery of the message that distracts from the substance of the message...wrong messenger, wrong motives, wrong manner, wrong target." Very worth taking the time to read his entire piece.
The truly hard work is how to be an effective citizen and fight to preserve a democratic union. I wish I could say I've figured that out. Trump's election caused me to get deeply involved in making my own community a better place, and that has led to a deeper involvement in my city's politics. While trying to influence national directions and policies can be highly frustrating, I've learned that an involved person can make a big difference at the local level. And that's a start.
While I agree with you that most of TV is a pit, I do love Nicolle Wallace. She dedicates a LOT of time to the backsliding of American democracy every day, and our friends at the Bulwark get a ton of air time with her.