I will add that I do believe in supporting good journalism and that is not free. I subscribe to two local newspapers, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Christianity Today. These may not all continue as my income has decreased with the loss of my teaching position, but reading good journalism is essential to the work I do now.
I have done the same in reducing if not eliminating "news" from my reading and watching. I don't miss it as I've replaced it by longer form essays and posts on Substack. The writing is better, the thought behind the writing is deeper.
Karen, as usual, you wrap up what so many of us are thinking....thank you for putting this into words:
"I want to know less about the things that divide us and more about the things that unite us. Less about the scandalous and personal and more about the transcendent and universal."
I thought I was watching far too much news and was over it completely and read books and thought great thoughts instead. But right now the Scottish government could fall at any moment and it’s leader, whom
I dislike , might be replaced with someone else, whom I do like , and I realise that I am just as tempted by the bbc news feed as ever I was . So I pray that I will be given the grace to spend less time watching the news , but not yet
You are very kind ! I’m not a particularly responsible citizen in this respect, generally I look at the news and pray for it in a responsible fashion but this particular story I’m treating as a soap opera
There are situations in the wider world that lay heavy on my heart so I do look up those so I can pray for them. A recent Canadian law on online content ownership made social media companies refuse to share headlines on theur forums. I didn't miss the disappearance of the headlines. That isn't how I was raised to absorb news. My family couldn't afford newspaper subscriptions and didn't have television.
Looking back, I was remarkably privileged in how my parents made us aware of the wider world. My father had a world map on the wall of our dining room. Every night, around the supper table, we listened to the world news from the national broadcaster, and our father would point out where in the world an event was happening. After the 6PM news, the broadcaster ran a show, 'As It Happens', in which a skilled journalist, via telecommunications, interviewed people involved in stories from around the world. These people were eyewtnesses to everything from wars to wacky events. Their stories were tragic, triumphant, joyful, hilarious, and all the other emotions humans can experience. Some of them required a translator, others spoke with strong accents and/or broken English, but we heard their voices. We often never saw images of events until we got the Year Book from World Book Encyclopedia (the one subscription my parents did have) - for example, I heard live reporting from 9/11, I never saw the images until afterward. News was always an auditory event to us. It was not just the words used but the sound of the journalists' and eyewitness' voices that was important in processing events.
The internet hasn't yet killed radio, thankfully, but it has nearly made the radio device I delete. I keep thinking I need to get a small radio just to listen to news again.
Amazing! And to think you had no (or little) idea at the time what a gift this would be, what a different perspective on the world this kind of environment would provide that would shape you today. I love this.
We knew other families didn't do the same things, but we didn't realize what an impact it would have later on how we viewed the world. It shocked us in our teens when we would talk avidly about what was going on in another country and our peers would stare at us blankly. Then during the pandemic, when friends and family began to post memes that the media wasn't "showing" everything, I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders, because I had never relied on such "showing" - by that time, I had developed the habit, like your friend Ron Miller, of casting a very wide net for current information and none of it was on television.
100% agree. And, like yourself and others, I'm trying hard, both to watch/read less of what's considered news and also to guard my heart from a growing, corrosive cynicism - and finding it's harder to avoid the latter, sadly (but Psalm 73 is a great help). People like Wendell Berry sure do help (that boy sounds like he could be a keeper) - here's another of his poems that I've found so helpful https://thewaitingcountry.blogspot.com/2024/04/wendell-berry-sabbath-poems-2009-vii.html - and a proper dose of the right kind of music (just now it's The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues. Very recommended).
Excellent “counter” take here by my friend Ron Miller: https://open.substack.com/pub/ronsreflections/p/the-news-thats-fit?r=90e4e&utm_medium=ios
I will add that I do believe in supporting good journalism and that is not free. I subscribe to two local newspapers, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Christianity Today. These may not all continue as my income has decreased with the loss of my teaching position, but reading good journalism is essential to the work I do now.
Karen,
I have done the same in reducing if not eliminating "news" from my reading and watching. I don't miss it as I've replaced it by longer form essays and posts on Substack. The writing is better, the thought behind the writing is deeper.
You are so right. And I have so much “de-toxing” to do. I’m trying!
Karen, as usual, you wrap up what so many of us are thinking....thank you for putting this into words:
"I want to know less about the things that divide us and more about the things that unite us. Less about the scandalous and personal and more about the transcendent and universal."
Yes and Amen.
Thank you, Jody. These are strange times and I think we are all trying to find our way through them!
I thought I was watching far too much news and was over it completely and read books and thought great thoughts instead. But right now the Scottish government could fall at any moment and it’s leader, whom
I dislike , might be replaced with someone else, whom I do like , and I realise that I am just as tempted by the bbc news feed as ever I was . So I pray that I will be given the grace to spend less time watching the news , but not yet
Of course, we must be responsible citizens. We cannot put our heads in the sand or neglect our duties as citizens.
You are very kind ! I’m not a particularly responsible citizen in this respect, generally I look at the news and pray for it in a responsible fashion but this particular story I’m treating as a soap opera
There are situations in the wider world that lay heavy on my heart so I do look up those so I can pray for them. A recent Canadian law on online content ownership made social media companies refuse to share headlines on theur forums. I didn't miss the disappearance of the headlines. That isn't how I was raised to absorb news. My family couldn't afford newspaper subscriptions and didn't have television.
Looking back, I was remarkably privileged in how my parents made us aware of the wider world. My father had a world map on the wall of our dining room. Every night, around the supper table, we listened to the world news from the national broadcaster, and our father would point out where in the world an event was happening. After the 6PM news, the broadcaster ran a show, 'As It Happens', in which a skilled journalist, via telecommunications, interviewed people involved in stories from around the world. These people were eyewtnesses to everything from wars to wacky events. Their stories were tragic, triumphant, joyful, hilarious, and all the other emotions humans can experience. Some of them required a translator, others spoke with strong accents and/or broken English, but we heard their voices. We often never saw images of events until we got the Year Book from World Book Encyclopedia (the one subscription my parents did have) - for example, I heard live reporting from 9/11, I never saw the images until afterward. News was always an auditory event to us. It was not just the words used but the sound of the journalists' and eyewitness' voices that was important in processing events.
The internet hasn't yet killed radio, thankfully, but it has nearly made the radio device I delete. I keep thinking I need to get a small radio just to listen to news again.
Amazing! And to think you had no (or little) idea at the time what a gift this would be, what a different perspective on the world this kind of environment would provide that would shape you today. I love this.
We knew other families didn't do the same things, but we didn't realize what an impact it would have later on how we viewed the world. It shocked us in our teens when we would talk avidly about what was going on in another country and our peers would stare at us blankly. Then during the pandemic, when friends and family began to post memes that the media wasn't "showing" everything, I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders, because I had never relied on such "showing" - by that time, I had developed the habit, like your friend Ron Miller, of casting a very wide net for current information and none of it was on television.
100% agree. And, like yourself and others, I'm trying hard, both to watch/read less of what's considered news and also to guard my heart from a growing, corrosive cynicism - and finding it's harder to avoid the latter, sadly (but Psalm 73 is a great help). People like Wendell Berry sure do help (that boy sounds like he could be a keeper) - here's another of his poems that I've found so helpful https://thewaitingcountry.blogspot.com/2024/04/wendell-berry-sabbath-poems-2009-vii.html - and a proper dose of the right kind of music (just now it's The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues. Very recommended).
Wow. That poem speak so well into this condition. I’m so grateful for your sharing Berry’s work here, Richard. Thank you.
*speaks