Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
Mikaela Georgi
| Staff Writer
The news finds us, even when we aren’t looking for it. And if the media is to be believed, the world is perpetually on fire.
The 24-hour news cycle, with its relentless stream of negative headlines, creates an atmosphere of constant crisis. For students, engaging with this type of media requires significant emotional labor and leads to stress and burnout.
The onslaught of headlines that circulate is overwhelming. Humans aren’t wired to process concurrent global crises, especially on such an extreme scale. Modern media perpetuates the globalized world, painting awareness about wars and injustice as a moral obligation.
This shift partly reflects changes in how we consume news. When the news was limited to a handful of channels or newspapers, staying informed required an intentional effort. Today, with news pervasive across independent media, it often feels unavoidable.
Many people unintentionally consume news while scrolling or reading texts. Apps like X display headlines in rapid succession, often driving clicks and engagement through their reliance on shock value.
This broadens our stress to pay attention to nearly everything, which just isn’t feasible. The expectation to care about it all sets us up for failure and fuels feelings of helplessness.
The constant exposure to negativity, perpetuated by push notifications and instant messaging, can lead to what experts call “Headline Stress Disorder.”
For students, this feels especially present. There simply isn’t space for the weight of the world’s crises among existing academic and social pressures. Constantly receiving headlines can push students to a breaking point.
One common response is a sense of powerlessness: the belief that no human effort can mitigate the worsening global crisis. This mindset often leads to the conclusion that striving for justice or reducing our global impact is futile.
On the other extreme are those who completely immerse themselves in the news and, therefore, the problems of the world. This constant consumption is often lauded as staying informed, but it feeds a kind of addiction to negativity. Consumers of this type are pushed into a cycle of hypervigilance — problems keep appearing, and they exhaust possibilities of solving them.
Neither of these paths is sustainable. When it comes to navigating the minefield that is the news media, we need to be intentional with our consumption.
Disengaging won’t solve the problem, but neither will surrounding ourselves with negative headlines. Intentional news consumption looks different for everyone, and it doesn’t require having breaking news alerts set to “always on.”
When negativity is everywhere, it’s easy to believe that things are only getting worse. It’s also important to use the media to find positivity and the good steps being taken.
Looking broadly at the sheer number of problems that exist can paralyze us. This is not to say that we should not care or follow our moral responsibility. We should still do everything we can, but care and aid need to be more intentional.
It is important to focus on issues that resonate with you and are tangible for your community. It is also important to take inventory of yourself and see what you can give and do. What we can give is not equal to everyone or even every day.
Capability looks different depending on the day or the person, and it is important to hold space for that. This will always make a more significant impact. If you want to read the news, seek out solutions-based journalism. This type of writing delves deeply into issues to keep readers informed while also highlighting the steps being taken to address them.
At the end of the day, if the news is causing too much anxiety or pain for the day, it’s okay to look away. Sometimes, the most radical act of the day is to just stop reading.
[ad_1]
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
[ad_2]
Comments are closed.