The media bombards us with content every single day and that was more evident during COVID. All of us are exposed to huge volumes of information and much of the news is negative, anxiety-inducing and detrimental to our mental health. Yet we keep devouring it.
However, each of us can regulate our consumption of the news, so that we can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed – and that was the topic of our recent webinar with Jehan Casinader.
For more than a decade, Jehan has been a familiar face in the media. Below is a summary of some key takeaways from the session so that you can make better choices about your own media use.
Why We’re Hooked on Bad News
As a journalist, Jehan has reported on many tragedies and disasters. He explained that although we don’t want bad things to happen to other people, we gravitate towards bad news.
Our brains are wired to protect us from any kind of threat – and the news reminds us that many things in the world could endanger us, even if they’re far removed from our day-to-day lives.
What’s more, the news is presented in a way that grabs our attention and keeps us hooked. For example, breaking news alerts are usually displayed in red – a colour that our brains associate with urgency and danger.
How We Can Gain Control
In the webinar, Jehan highlighted four ways we can gain control over our news consumption:
Take more responsibility for what you read and watch. Ask yourself: is this content helping me to make better decisions?
Clean up your devices and apps. Remove digital clutter by deleting apps, turning off notifications and unfollowing pages. This makes it easier to avoid being distracted.
Be intentional about the content you consume. Instead of constantly checking the news, choose two or three reliable news sources and pick a specific time of day to visit them.
Embrace FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Accept that it’s just not possible to keep up with all the content that’s out there. You don’t need to be up-to-speed on every event or issue.
Finding Hope
Although there is a lot of depressing stuff happening in the world, Jehan explained that we can flip the script and find hope – even in difficult stories.
We can do this by using our critical thinking skills. When confronted by bad news, we can ask: “What other interpretations of this story are available to me?”
We can also have conversations with our colleagues, friends and family, to help us to process distressing news and make sense of it. Together, we can find reasons to be optimistic.
Find Out More
If you’ve been finding the media news a little more doom and gloom than usual, we hope you find these insights helpful in being able to take back control of your media consumption. There’s always a good reason to find hope in the news and if you want to consume some positive, expert advice you should check out our webinars on our page via the link below:
If you would like to discuss any of these points directly or find out how we can support you and your business, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
