Too many trees, not enough forest
A media detox offers some perspective
Growing up, many of my family's summer vacations were spent camping at Lake Turlock in central California.
On more than one occasion driving home, as we descended from the mountains above Los Angeles, a thick layer of brown smog waited for us. It begged the question, “Do we really want to go home?”
I had a similar experience over my recent time off, but my “smog” was the news.
For almost two weeks, I turned off my phone and intentionally avoided the news cycle as best I could. I've only mildly checked news sites since then and have yet to click on any social media.
I love being knowledgeable about current events – it’s been my profession for decades. I love the internet even more. Young people today may not grasp how tough it was to scour a library for an elusive book that held the facts you needed. It’s a wonderful gift to have human knowledge at our fingertips, but it comes with downsides.
We’re inundated with stories and social media posts algorithmically chosen because they provoke reactions from people. Computers are quite literally targeting us not with the most intelligent news of the day, but those designed to evoke an emotional response to encourage likes and sharing.
Every morning I do my best to think up something of value for you. While I’m confident that I'm providing you with solid and, hopefully, insightful thoughts, I sometimes wonder: am I part of the problem? Does focusing on the daily political drama and unsettling politics-related behavior help us stay diligent? Or depressed?
There's a constant tug-of-war between sensationalism and nuance. I've always leaned toward the latter, even at the expense of being more popular.
I ran Fox News digital for a decade, and I have a good understanding of what clicks online. Outrage. Intrigue. Fear. Bashing the “other” guys.
As an example, I sometimes follow Libs of TikTok’s Twitter account. She does a great job of exposing some of the absolutely awful behavior by teachers across the country indoctrinating kids. It boils my blood.
But then I’m reminded that America has 35 million kids in elementary school. Even if shocking behaviors are shockingly rare, they could still fill up a scary Twitter feed.
And that’s the challenge we all face with the day’s news. We want to be aware and educated about our society, and while anecdotal stories grab attention in our news feeds, it’s often hard to tell if the news is serving as a warning or simply winding us up.
As we move forward, I’ll do my best to help us distinguish between what's truly significant and what's mere drama.
Perhaps a little less tied to the day's news, but never shying away from tough questions or close looks at a media that’s led us astray.
— Ken
I value your insights. Still, I grasp your concern… I have it myself. But given MSM bias now, it feels important that journalists like you provide ‘the other side’ and truth.
"Young people today may not grasp how tough it was to scour a library for an elusive book that held the facts you needed."
This may be beside your main point but it raises something interesting - information is so readily available that it is often unappreciated. The stickiness factor is not the same as having to go to the library, navigate the Dewey Decimal System (how many younger people even know what that is?), find the book(s) needed, read it/them while taking notes, and so forth. When finding something out takes that much time, you tend to remember it.