Wren: Hey Vivian! Now that we’re back from winter break, we have a lot of news to talk about! I have to admit, keeping up with the news over the holidays was a bit brutal. Following coverage of the wildfires in California, the attack on pedestrians in New Orleans and school shootings, not to mention President Donald Trump’s inauguration, has been quite overwhelming and disheartening at times. It’s difficult to know how to stay informed without getting consumed by the constant barrage of news, especially with news being so prevalent on social media.
Vivian: For sure. It’s like the more you keep up, the more doomed everything feels. During times like these, all I want to do is shut myself in and unplug because every time I see the news it’s like the sky is falling and the world is ending.
Wren: I understand how you feel. Sometimes I wish I could live in a little bubble and make it all disappear, but if we all do that, none of these issues will be addressed. It’s important to find a balance between staying informed and taking care of your mental health.
Vivian: Staying informed is crucial, but it reaches a certain saturation point where you’re already as informed as you can be, and learning more just makes you feel anxious and miserable. Taking in information can only be helpful to a certain point. Addressing an issue doesn’t necessarily require you to induce a state of anxiety in yourself. The true way to deal with and address these issues in my mind is to act locally. To be able to see the bigger picture, one needs a clear mind and clearer intentions.
Wren: That’s also where news on social media can increase the relentless nature of consuming news that makes the world seem so overwhelming. News that explains the deeper meanings of why events are happening, provides context and helps people find ways to address the issues they care about becomes more important every day. At the end of the day, action is the only way we can create positive change in our communities. How might students go about acting locally to address these issues? That alone can be an overwhelming journey to embark on.
Vivian: For starters, supporting and reading local journalism, as well as consuming news outside of social media. I am absolutely guilty of getting news off of social media like most of us, but these platforms do not act as objective bodies of journalism by any means. They should be treated as catalysts to do further research on current events and issues. Volunteering at places like soup kitchens and food banks is important at all times. For issues that happen outside of our reach locally, small donations by way of GoFundMe and mutual aid organizations can really add up. There’s no point in letting these anxieties fester within us when there are always at least a few things we can do to make a dent in the problem.
Wren: Social media rarely provides more than headline news, which can be the most anxiety-inducing of all — reading about all of the horrible events that have happened without any explanation as to why or how to address them. Volunteering is a great way to make a difference, and it can also give people a sense of fulfillment because you know you’re doing something that makes your community a better place. That in and of itself can help make staying informed less depressing because it takes away the feeling of hopelessness. It’s also important for us to work to change our relationship with news to make it more intentional. If we give attention to content that is credibly reported and explanatory, we can pass that knowledge on to our close friends and community. The most important thing, whether we’re talking about consuming news or engaging in our communities, is to be intentional about what we do.
Vivian: You’re pointing out an extremely important consideration we should all make in our news consumption. It’s really important to not take everything at face value, but to dive deeper, using credible sources. A lot of news out there is formulated to get clicks and attention. While I recognize that’s what often needs to be done to keep news organizations afloat, it’s often taken to a dangerous extreme. With clickbait and ragebait being used to foster engagement, it can be hard to distinguish what we should and should not believe. Intentionality is key in today’s media landscape, for all of our sanity.
Wren: Yes, it’s a bit of a contradictory problem. People don’t want to read the news because existential headlines are so often used to attract attention, and in response, news organizations just double their efforts to do this in hopes of increasing their audience. We all have a responsibility, especially as college students, future leaders and professionals, to engage with sources that aim to inform over aiming to attract. Supporting those efforts with our attention and our dollars will make a difference.
Vivian: News isn’t just a compilation of facts, nor is it a simple headline or phrase. It involves perspectives that can’t be programmed or summarized so excessively. Engaging with content and “news” that’s so formulaic and lacking substance can make reading news unbearable. Adapting complex, nuanced issues for such a short span of attention or time can compound over time into an overall misconception of the truths and current events, leading to an overly polarized worldview, black-and-white untruths and a lack of media literacy. If you’re online nowadays it’s really difficult to avoid current events. By opting out of traditional, intentional news consumption you could be accidentally opting into a worldview informed by half-truths and cut corners.
Wren: These are all great points, and we could both go on about news and social media all day. Just the fact that people have these conversations is encouraging to me. Many young people who want to see changes in the world just need the resources and some guidance to get started. Being intentional consumers and taking even the smallest actions to get involved are important first steps. Few things are ever as overwhelming as they seem at first.
Vivian: When you really break it down, we need to stop our unproductive worrying about the entire world’s problems and instead use our broadened perspectives to see how we can use our abilities, passions and worries to relieve our existential dread. By doing that, in tandem with consuming ethically sourced, local and credible journalism, we may finally be able to stop fearing each 24-hour news cycle and become more equipped to deal with the realities that govern our complicated world.
jasmine
Jan 30, 2025 at 1:44 pm
now this is good news!