Consuming lots of news can make you a more informed citizen—or a neurotic zombie

If there were a Twelve Step program to alleviate an addiction to news, I might qualify for membership. I already have had to deal with two types of addictions—booze and nicotine—so it’s not much of a stretch that my well-nigh obsessive, daily consumption of news could be a sign of another addiction.

Like other addictive behaviors, there is an initial upside to following current events, particularly national politics, just like a sip of good wine can enhance a good meal and stimulate conversation.

But beyond a certain point, too much is too much, and no matter where you stand on the right/left political spectrum, a news addiction locks you in a self-confirming bubble that distorts rather than informs, and undermines the rational exchange of ideas a democracy needs to function.

So to mark two occasions—New Year’s Eve and my birthday on December 30—I have launched a personal campaign to avoid reading, watching, discussing or otherwise wasting time on news that might affect my mental health.

I can’t guarantee for how long my willpower will restrain my natural curiosity. For instance: I wonder what’s in the Trump’s tax returns that we’ve been salivating over for six years? Hmm. Can I resist?

Unwittingly, Stew and I had already weaned ourselves from TV news, except for non-political fare, like the death of Queen Elizabeth II; the whereabouts of the Webb Space Telescope; nature documentaries; or curious political events rendered innocuous by distance, such as British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s contest with a head of lettuce over which would wilt and get tossed aside first. The lettuce outlasted Ms. Truss’s premiership.

In particular, Stew and I have pulled away from the evening cable news programs where political coverage morphs into partisan drivel peppered with commentary by bobbleheads who are supposed to enlighten the viewers with their expertise, while the moderators nod gravely and toss softball questions.

Viewers with progressive political tendencies huddle around CNN or MSNBC, while the opposite group navigates toward Fox News. Each side gets a booster shot to remind them of the rightness and righteousness of their angst about the dire state of the nation.

I confess that on occasion I have peeked at Fox News, particularly after major political events, to hear how it twists its news coverage to conform to its ideological agenda. They seldom disappoint: On the heels of the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by hordes who could not abide that their candidate and savior, Donald Trump, had actually lost the election, Fox commentator Laura Ingraham promptly blamed “radical antifa” elements for the riot, even though there was no evidence then—nor has anyone dug up any evidence since—that was the case. As with other instances of its fabulist reporting, Fox didn’t offer any subsequent corrections, clarifications or explanations.

But it is the internet, and news that travel through it, that has turned me into a political junkie and threatens my sanity. First thing in the morning I turn to my Kindle tablet to check on the New York Times, Washington Post and the Guardian’s U.S. edition, and get my first shot of political news. Then, throughout the day, I will get emails from The Atlantic and the New Yorker magazines, and additional commentary and interpretation from sites like Politico.com and Slate, to fill any still tranquil space left in my brain. Slate’s led the news yesterday with “Republicans in Disarray.” Whoopie. I also subscribe to a newsletter by progressive commentator Robert Hubbell, who gathers threads of political events from various sources and weaves them into a daily liberal epistle.

According to some analysts—operating mostly on the internet, naturally—the nonstop barrage of bad news, has caused a marked increase in depression and anxiety among Americans, particularly during the pandemic lockdown. The phenomenon of doomscrolling has emerged, particularly among far right- and left-wingers who fish for conspiracies and far-out explanations to explain a political atmosphere that seems to them to be spinning out of control.

Exhibit A for doomscrolling would be the January-February 2023 issue of The Atlantic that I just received, with a cover cheerfully titled “Notes from the Apocalypse.” The first two featured stories are “The People Cheering for Humanity’s End,” and a longish profile of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the most annoying wacko on the political landscape second only to Trump himself. If that doesn’t send me into some emotional tailspin, there’s also a story about “The Real Reason American Progress Has Stalled.”

Mercy. It is this kind of reading that might jeopardize my nearly 40-year-long stint of sobriety.

Problem is that extrapolations and analyses of political news often go beyond mere facts and into speculation. Democrats were biting their fingernails before the midterm elections, expecting a red wave of Republican victories that would cement an authoritarian trend and possible victory for Trump in the 2024 presidential elections. The opposite happened—read all about it—and now the Republicans are the ones biting their nails.

Where to begin? For starters, I have unsubscribed from Politico.com, Slate.com and Robert Hubbell’s epistolaries. Zot!

Then there’s the more delicate task of curating what I read in the dailies. In yesterday’s New York Times, you had to gloss over the daily details about the war in Ukraine; updates on political loonies like George Santos and Elise Stefanik; and the machete attack on two policemen near Times Square.

Instead I would read Nick Kristof’s cheery predictions for 2023. He writes: “Enough with the doom and gloom! Our planet may be in better shape than you think.” I agree. Or the paper’s “7-day Happiness Wellness Challenge.” Hint: You need to make more friends.

For its part, The Washington Post has a twice weekly newsletter called The Optimist, with “[a] selection of inspiring stories to help you disconnect, hit refresh and start the week off right.” Or today’s article on how to eat more vegetables, something you should do regardless of your political affiliation.

Yesterday I sampled a news app from the Canadian Broadcasting System, which carried feel-good stories about an organization in British Columbia that rehabilitates grizzly bear cubs and another group in Manitoba that is donating hockey equipment to keep kids in Kyiv, and those who have fled to Canada, interested in the sport despite the war with Russia. That’s Canadian optimism for you.