The news will manage without youCalm

unbry

The news will manage without you

A short book about checking the headlines many times a day and feeling worse informed and more afraid

19 chapters11,750 wordsAbout 53 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. You look at the news many times a day. You look on your phone…2 min
1Monday, ten past sevenIt's ten past seven on a Monday morning and the alarm has just gone. Before your feet touch the floor you've picked up the phone, and before you've…3 min
2Why you keep lookingIf the tally was high, you might be inclined to call it an addiction or a weakness. I'd call it the expected result of a particular kind of mind meeting a…3 min
3"I need to know what's going on"The main justification for checking is that it keeps you informed. It's what informed people do. If you stopped, you'd fall behind and lose your grip on…3 min
4"It's how I stay safe"Part of the pull of the news is protective. The world has dangers in it, and keeping an eye on them feels like basic prudence. If you know about the…3 min
5"A responsible person keeps up"This is the belief that gives the habit its respectability. In a democracy, citizens ought to know what's going on. People who don't follow the news are…2 min
6"It doesn't affect me"You may accept that checking teaches you little and still think it's harmless. You're an adult. You've been reading bad news all your life. A headline…3 min
7"I like to know what people are saying"A good share of what you read isn't news in the strict sense. It's reaction to news. That covers the opinion column, the furious thread, the clip of one…3 min
8"When something big happens, I have to follow it"Ordinary days are one thing. When something enormous happens, such as an attack, a disaster or a war breaking out, it seems natural and even right to…3 min
9"Watching is the least I can do"There's a moral feeling tied up in all this, and it deserves to be taken seriously. Terrible things are happening to people. You're safe and comfortable.…2 min
10"I'd be the last to know"There's a social fear underneath the habit too. If you stopped checking, something important would happen and you wouldn't know. You'd walk into work and…2 min
11"It's only a quick look"Each individual look is nothing. It takes thirty seconds at the kettle or a minute on the platform. You're hardly going to be harmed by a minute. This is…2 min
12What checking costs youThe last few chapters took the beliefs one at a time. This one adds up the bill. You're paying in mood. On the evidence of chapter 6, each dose of bad…3 min
13What it costs the people around youA news habit seems like the most private of vices. It's you and a screen, and it's hard to see how it could affect anyone else. But other people are…2 min
14What being informed looks likeIf checking isn't the way to be informed, it's fair to ask what is. This chapter describes the alternative, and it's my own view, offered as one…3 min
15The decisionHere's the rule I'm suggesting. I take in the news once a day, at a time I've chosen, from a source that has an end. Then I close it. It has seven parts.…4 min
16Elections, emergencies and other hard casesIf the news is about you. If your family is in the war zone, your town is the one flooding, or your job depends on the vote, then following events closely…4 min
17Monday againIt's a Monday some months on, and the alarm goes at ten past seven. It's a real alarm clock, a cheap one with a loud tick that you've got used to. The…3 min
·NotesThis book gives general information. It isn't medical or psychological advice, and it's no substitute for a professional who knows your situation. NHS…4 min