During the past eighteen months I've ceased watching or listening news as a matter of course. Where once I was a bit of an addict, I now find I access news online and then select stories that interest me. If I then wish to access extended coverage, I switch on the telly.

My ten year-old son has recently shown some interest in the news, however, I'm finding that I'm inclined to strongly regulate the amount he watches and make sure I'm on hand to explain the background to stories. It seems to me, having had this time without a repeated barrage of "bad news", that it doesn't serve us well psychologically to indulge ourselves in this manner.

I don't believe we were designed to be flooded with tragedies 24/7, which is effectively what we inflict on our psyches every day of the year. In the developed world we appear to operating on a heightened footing - we tune in hourly for the latest death, disease, trauma and woe.

No wonder depression is rife.

Any thoughts?

ahh pure0
trhe news is meant to depress..[de'press...get it?]

thing is news raduio was a joke from the get go
put on the worse wavelength...[noting tab radio is on the best]
then loo[ping arrounf the same limited news on a 15 minute loop
anywonder i went back to the other abc's

the best news is on the local channel briz 31[free to air]
but they went digetal after the floods..so i cant watch them no more]

of course what really ghappend is a good info source
and republic broadcasting..as well aas the latest yoyu tube news uploads[that they removede as an option]

you cant beat news some papers..and some magazines
[specialist ones]..not mens or womans iooking or star power ones

NO THERE IS NOT TOO MUCH NEWS
there is too little QUALITY news
then to much blood stars and gore spin

anyhow thanks for reminding me
im now more depressed thanm ever..[but not because of lack of new's]
but the same ol news designed to put us into fight or flight[preferably the latter]

sorry if my spelling is worse than ever
i cant see the screen.getting a migrane light show

im so over trying to wake people up
go the rabbit''ohs ..did ya hear what she done?

goss ip
go sip
gossip
goss up
gloss up

News remains what it has always been informative.
My problem is not seeing/hearing what is taking place.
It is the endless craftsmanship put in with the news.
And even worse, total lack of it, reports that are untrue but presented as fact.
A theft can grow in just a few reports from ten dollars to ten million.
Death toll from one thousand to ten.
A grin right now is the tribalism and embarrassing reports that Gillard bowed,not curtsied to the old English lady some say is Queen.

OUG and Belly,

We live in an age of rapid transmission of information.
One of the most significant of human qualities is empathy, the vicarious experiencing of feelings and thoughts of others.
For most of human history information would have been fairly slow in arrival, and local gossip would have chiefly comprised its content. Notwithstanding that death and illness were more a part of the domestic daily grind, whereas these days in the developed world we are largely screened from such things as far as is possible.

We now have a non-stop flow of tragedy and doom. I'm wondering about the effect on the psyche in having to constantly process such vast amounts of bad news.

Dear Poirot,

I also find the news programs on commercial television
rather depressing. I've begun to be more
selective in what channels I'll watch sticking
to SBS (World News Australia), and prior to that
PBS - News Hour, then The Journal (Deutsch News),
ABC News at 7.00pm. And, general programs
like Lateline, Four Corners, Q and A, Media
Watch. I do admit that I have enjoyed The 7PM Project,
but Today Tonight and A Current Affair - is a little
over the top for me (same as I used to love Two and
A Half Men - but the new program is a dud).

Anyway - I guess that the commercial news channels
tend to feature stories that they feel will draw in
large viewing audiences - therefore I guess this
means omitting issues that are more sober but
perhaps significant also. Their coverage is highly
selective or distorted.

cont'd ...

I forgot to answer your question as to what effect
all this has on people. The influence of television,
like that of the other media, is difficult to trace with
any certainty, because it is inevitably entangled in a
multitude of influences on personality. One major point
of controversy has been the impact of television violence.
If we take into account that by the time the average
child reaches the age of sixteen, he or she has witnessed
innumerable acts of violence - and according to the
National Institute of Mental Health in the US for example,
it was found
that these portrayals do, in fact, encourage aggressive
conduct among children and teenagers. Therefore I would
assume that constantly watching depressing news
from around the world
would also have an effect on the psyche. If nothing else
it probably encourages intellectual passivity (hindering
the acquisition of reading skills that could be developed
from say - newspapers, and other printed sources).