Before November, I did it by mainly looking at AP News. During November I was kind of a mess. After November, no news at all. My lemmy feed is comic strips, Linux, photography, and asklemmy, a few other things that are not political. If major shit happens I hear from my partner or friends, but they all know I'm not that interested. My YouTube feed is Buddhist stuff, standup comedy, and hobby rabbit holes. I even filtered out the lefty late night shows (daily show etc). I know the basics of what's going on, but don't feel any need to get daily updates on it and I'm feeling pretty sane compared to a few months ago! We donate to Palestinian charities, HRC, etc., are active in other ways, but this daily media crap is not healthy.
this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2025
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I've tried and failed. No matter what, it keeps seeping in. Filters, only following certain communities and people, avoiding some platforms, it doesn't matter. I'm considering getting a dumb phone and running off to the woods.
I have all major news sources and US politics tags blocked on Mastodon. I also continually block subs focused on US news here on Lemmy.
Frankly, I don’t trust news media or any kind. The purpose of those publications is to make sure they’re distributed as widely as possible to sell ads. So I don’t look at them unless I have to.
I do, however, follow some local chatter for my city, as the relevant news is there.
Personally I feel I manage to still stay informed, since anything of real importance will break through my block list anyway.
The purpose of those publications is to make sure they’re distributed as widely as possible to sell ads
Agree: For-profit journalism has screwed-up incentives. Not-for-profit journalism does tend to be different.
Personally I feel I manage to still stay informed, since anything of real importance will break through my block list anyway.
So you're relying on those around you to keep you informed, despite blocking news on social media and not reading news yourself? Bold choice.
I suppose I still don’t trust the not-for-profit outlets either. Non-profit status, at least in the US, is a matter of taxes rather than one of morals.
And, yes, I do end up relying on people around me to hear about things for the first time, but I can and do look into things further from there.
There are pros and cons for this, of course, but I feel a lot calmer without the constant stream of doom in my life.
It's also a matter of motivations. I'm not saying nonprofit status confers automatic trustworthiness, but they are missing the major incentives for sensationalism that for-profit outlets are.
That’s true. My cynicism is pretty personal. I’ve worked for a corrupt nonprofit in the past.
I stay uninformed but in the rare times I want to be up to date, financial news sources are pretty good, they cover world news briefly and their kind of clickbait is easy to ignore - they don't do rage bait but try to make you invest in something.
For me I disassociate. I know the people around me by and large love and/or care for me and if shit hit the fan I'm fine.
The news is just entertainment. I love watching the news. I love politics. Sometimes it's surreal and scary but in no ways do I feel worried. I worry for those around me because they may not be able to protect themselves due to age or capacity but then that's why I'm there if required.
I ignore news that don't concern me, my family, city or country. The rest is labeled under "societal spectacle", drama that I cant change unless i have to stop working and dedicate a whole life to fix that problem. Its ok to admit "bugger this" and just turning off the news, if only a while.
Its good to stay informed but I can hardly point at a piece of "news" that absolutly changed my life, career, relationships etc...
It feels like you have to build a skill that sorts news into "I cant do shit about this, (because of valid reasons)" and "wait what are they gutting from my social services that I paid for most of my life through taxes?".
I use grund news to keep up to date. I use Lemmy to get enraged.
Really close to the stress. Checking out is giving up and it's a super weak move. Oh no you feel bad? People are losing their livelihoods. Their citizenships, their jobs. Buck up yo. We got shit to do.
you really have to be a pessimist
It's not always the same over time. Currently, I read Lemmy and occasionally tagesschau.de (recently less, want to more again).
Web and text means I can scroll and read what I want, without dwelling to much on it (like video news, intro then video then expert interview or worse). I can skim, or read comment interpretation or summarization. I can comment and discuss.
I have this account for general, and a different on programming.dev. When I open that one I see no or few politics (that kind at least). Etc.
I draw the line at whiskey/beer. I need both in order to watch the evening news. I won't engage with socials until properly lubricated by both.
"This is fine." (meme)
lol, what is your favorite whiskey for such an evening?
Generally start with crown royal and 7-up over ice until my 12-ounce 7-up is empty then switch to coors banquet (stupid stubby bottles) until it's time to turn in - which is now.
With all those fluids, do you get up to pee like 19 times throughout the night? I would.
Good night ✋
Have a good night! Sounds like a good way to not take in any bad news, haha
Of important things you will get informed want it or not.
It's better to just pursue news on things you like and enjoy to avoid depression.
If news stress you out I would recommend to actually avoid them. It's what I do and I am still oversaturated with news, so there's no risk on being missinformed.
I've finally made the choice and filtered trump posts, it took a while to figure out how Eternity does it.
I still watch Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel.
Staying away from opinionated news outlets. News from outlets like Reuters or AP usually just deliver the news straight up.
This. I'd like to add that I avoid reading about things that "could" happen
Sort what you know is predictable bs. For example, you know the bad actors are going to always say or do outrageous things for distraction. I use the uBlock Origin browser plugin with filters for “Trump” “Elon” “Maga” and most news sites have about 2 or 3 articles worth reading. Entries even get blanked on Lemmy. Instead of seeing “TRUMP, ELON, MAGA DO THIS!!!” You now see “Secretary of Defense halts Cybersecurity from offensive attacks on Russia” from a decent source. This narrows most news to either things that may affect you directly or helps you build a better informed opinion. Also, if you are in the US, take every opinion from the house of reps and the senate and throw it in the trash. Until they quit acting like children and begin negotiating like adults, they have absolutely nothing good to say. That’s a good chunk of the “news” right there. So when you see stuff like “REP INTRODUCES BILL TO …” just stop reading. If you care to look further look for the bill number and actually read it. Most of the time it’s really stupid crap tactics just to rile up the public. They have been doing that for well over a century. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
tl;dr: sort the troll news.
I prioritize staying informed over well-being. But I also don't trust everything I see. Which is the real reason (or one of them) why I mainly watch local news. I wouldn't be like "I don't want to see who among us is in danger of being nuked, nuclear bombs are so unsightly to watch". It is best to prepare for longer-term benefit.
Alcohol
I would recommend taking only a certain amount of time per day on news AND social media, like maybe half an hour after work.
I mostly read headlines but not articles. This is so that I can send emails to a family member who voted for this shit again. I throw in a one-liner that sarcastically alludes to the terrible story and a link with the headline in the subject. I'm super pissed that my mother voted for this asshole (again), so if the story is about dismantling the education dept, my comment would be: "Your grandkids go to a private school, so they're fine. Sucks to be a poor kid!"
Honestly, if I wasn't screaming at her (via email, not literally), I'd probably have to avoid altogether. But I believe it's necessary that she read about every possible terrible thing she invoked with her vote. Or, maybe more realistically, I'm just that mad at her even if she'll never change. Our relationship is likely over.