Originally I wanted to title this post Angels and Demons but didn’t want to risk the possibility of copyright infringement. Recently I have decided to lower my news diet. Really it should be called bad news, right? How often do you hear about good things in the news?
The reason I did this was because I find it usually brings me down a fair amount in my daily demeanor. It can also cause unnecessary stress when I get worked up over something. Usually it’s about something I have no control over anyway.
The second reason I cut way back was it’s increasingly difficult to find unbiased news. I read The Economist on occasion which still leans a bit right. Overall though, it’s generally less biased than other news outlets like FOX or CNN. I do listen to some NPR podcasts but they’re not news ones, there’s one called Planet Money that’s about economics in the world that I really like.
My dad in particular can get pretty fired up about the liberal news media and their biases. I encouraged him though to see that FOX is biased as well, it’s just the other side of the same coin.
It is of great concern to me how much sway the media has on our population. Facebook news feed is particularly concerning with the algorithms that keep feeding you more of what you want to hear rather than different sources and perspectives.
As a direct result, we’re drawn further into tribalism. Where our own people, in whichever category you like, are angels and those people of the different side are demons. It’s especially apparent in politics but I’ve seen a trickle down effect.
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