Maybe ignorance is bliss......

Apparently the Aussies call it doom scrolling!

Redhead There was a very interesting r4 programme a few days about rolling news media. Because of the need to fill the news space every hour, things are reported as fact even though it may turn out not to be of any relevance over time. This can cause people hearing this unnecessary stress and fear. I am interested in the news but don’t watch or read as much as before.
Think the programme was More or Less, always worth a listen.

Doodledog sorry, maybe I should have put the word "experts" in " ", ie those who like to call themselves "experts".
Although even yesterday there were proper scientific experts referring to the new virus as a "variant", a "strain", a "mutation" etc all very mixed up takes on it.

Kate1949

My DH us an avid news watcher. Since the start of the pandemic he has watched lots of news, all the briefings etc. He has compiled a spreadsheet of the figures (he's bored). I had the briefing on yesterday and he walked out saying 'I've had enough now'.

Perhaps your DH could swap spreadsheets with mine Kate? He almost turned up at the afternoon briefings in his suit, armed with his laptop.
Now baking and making bread have more appealing to him! I think the dough might be one or two of those journalists.

What do you mean by 'genuine reporting', Elliane? And what is a 'real fact'?

I don't understand why you disapprove of experts being asked for their 'slant', either. An expert in something is less likely to have a 'slant' than a politician. They may have an opinion on a particular issue, but if that is based on years of research and study, I would give that option far more credence than the opinion of someone trotting out a party line.

We were all told that the public was sick of experts not so long ago, which I always thought was a worrying message. Interestingly, now we are told that the same government is 'following the science', and it is presented as a good thing. something of a contradiction?

I love to watch the news. Sky News (now that Kay Burley is off the air for six months) and BBC News. My sister says I'm getting like our Mum - she was very interested in politics too.

Yes - I get that Doodledog, but I tend to think they condemned themselves out of their own mouths if the questions drill down on detail and refuse to let go with a bit of burble. Give them enough rope...............

I think it is the news programmes that I find irritating when they tell you some fact and then start asking what the political effect of this might be. I am not desperately interested in that, as I can draw my own conclusions.

My DH us an avid news watcher. Since the start of the pandemic he has watched lots of news, all the briefings etc. He has compiled a spreadsheet of the figures (he's bored). I had the briefing on yesterday and he walked out saying 'I've had enough now'.

Actually it's the journalists who stress me up with their ridiculous questions, asking at the press conferences if something can be guaranteed in January? No one is Mystic Meg and can guarantee anything at all.

I don't know, Luckygirl. I think that part of the role of journalists is to expose lies, corruption and incompetence, and to do that it is necessary to pin down politicians and ask how what they are doing or saying today fits with what they did or said yesterday.

I don't think that that's necessarily accentuating the negative - just calling those in power to account.

The thing about British TV news is that they invite every Tom, Dick or Harry to give their opinion on things. The real facts being reported get lost along the way as vociferous journalists, members of the public, and experts in this that or the other all pile in. Each one wants us to believe their slant.
Foreign news stations are more factual and tend to stick to more genuine reporting.

I get fed up with the politically-motivated questions from journalists at these briefings. I just want to know what they are going to DO, not what the effect on their political standing is. I can glean all that for myself. I want the journalists to pin them down.

I also dont know if I believe people when they say they dont watch the news. They may not sit and watch a news channel but they will use facebook or have the radio on. There wont be a person in this country who soesnt know about covid for example.

I agree dragonfly about that particular journalist. She always looks for an argument and exaggerates the negatives. If they said "it is cold outside today," she would demand an answer "when will we see the summer, have the shops got enough woolly hats, what are you doing about the dirty puddles?" I find her and others (Nagar M?) very aggressive.

I have found the news really distressing especially when Covid raised its ugly head. It was giving me panic attacks literally. I try not to watch the main news especially the BBC too dramatic for me these days.
I am not burying my head in the sand but trying to stay grounded by just reading the headlines on line.

We don't watch the news nearly as much as we used too Shinamae. Just once a day now and listen to the head lines in the evening in case there's something new.

I listen to speech radio pretty much 24/7.
LBC is currently far too full on at the moment. I can manage a bit of Radio 4.
But I can feel a personal news black out coming on any day soon.
That's when Audible comes into its own.
So, Shinamae, yes, I think that it's a very good idea. I know that mental health care professionals would recommend it.

I agree Galaxy. I used to be a real news freak, watching or listening at every opportunity. But this year's nightmare has cured me of that! However, I do want to stay informed so I make a point of watching/listening once or twice a day but then stop and try to concentrate on more cheerful things.

I am beginning to realise that some of the reporters eg Laura Keunssberg like to exacerbate the situation and stress the negative. I find it extremely annoying. It is due to sensationalists like her that cause shortages in the shops and panic.

I think there is a balance between not watching any news and watching it all the time.