Okay, so I know I usually reserve this space for lighter things and talk about movies, TV and comics. But I'm going to take a slightly different tack today. You see, things have been rough in terms of world events lately. A lot of people feel distraught and anxious lately. And I was (and sometimes still am) among them. And I'm going to tell you how reading the newspaper helped me stay informed in a less anxiety-inducing way.
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| A stack of newspapers |
Yes, really.
I know it sounds strange that somehow reading the newspaper as opposed to not reading the newspaper made me feel better rather than worse. But in order to understand that, you need to understand how I got my news before. Before reading the newspaper, I got my news second-hand. Usually from social media. Now, there are numerous reasons why getting news from social media is a problem. Part of the problem is just that it is social media, a type of media that's designed to keep people endlessly scrolling. The other reason is accuracy. There are a number of sketchy sources online. But the thing that was the problem for me regarding news on social medis was a lack of emotional regulation.
Most of the news I was picking up on social media was second-hand and posted by users. So, it wasn't straight news. It was the users reaction to the news. So, it was something like Joann376 posting on Bluesky “I can't believe they just did that! This is the end of democracy as we know it”. Or Big_Bob24 posting “They have gone too far! We must rise up in protest!” It was all emotion and outrage first and information second. Reading the paper, aside from the editorials which are all very measured and reasonable in their own way, it was information first. I got to receive that information, think about it, and decide how I felt and would react to it without being hit by someone else's reactions first. I had already been trying to ease up on my use of social media because I had found that taking in everyone's opinions is exhausting and that even doomscrolling in a place where more people agree with you is still doomscrolling.
But even reading the paper can get to you at times. There can be enough news that inspire negative emotions that it can drag you down. Sometimes you need a respite. Luckily the paper has that covered as well.
Now don't tell this to any serious journalist, because I have a feeling they'd balk at it, but the parts of the newspaper that aren't serious news are vital. Once you feel down and distraught about bad things happening in Washington, your hometown and also halfway around the world, you know what you have to do. You take a break and read the comic strips. Maybe you read a newspaper that doesn't have comic strips like the New York Times. Well, then you take a break to do the crossword puzzle. Or maybe you read your horoscope. Or you could look at recipes. Or maybe, if you like bizarrely complex card games, you read the bridge column. Even the community announcements can be a balm (Yes, please, tell me about what children's play is being staged locally and about next week's spaghetti dinner and raffle at the Elks Lodge). Heck, I imagine the Sports page can do that for a lot of people. It isn't for me because I'm not a sports guy. But it is the opinion of this reader that a well-constructed newspaper allows some kind of break from hard news. Not enough to outweigh the amount of actual news, but just enough. Personally, I've always been a fan of the comics page and I've just started doing the puzzles recently. Now, I tend to read my paper from a library database on a computer screen, just because my Library Assistant job usually has me sitting in front of a screen waiting for someone to come ask me for help. So, it can be a little hard to do the crossword, word search and jumble because you can't write on it. But it doesn't mean I can't hop on over to the New York Times website and do Wordle, Mini and Connections. So, even with some hurdles there are ways to make it work.
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| A crossword puzzle |
There are other advantages too. Right now, discussion is dominated by Federal news. But by reading the newspaper I was able to find out about more local events. In fact, it was finding out about a local event that drove me to read the news more in the first place. I also found that by reading the newspaper, I was able to hear more about when someone tried to fight back against something bad happening or hold someone accountable (like, say, when a group of states hold injunctions against the administration in Washington).
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| More newspapers |
So, if you still want to stay informed about the world, here are my suggestions. Get off social media. Pick up a newspaper. Read what seems pertinent to you. Pace yourself as you read through it. Take a break to read the comics page. Then take a moment to think and decide how you'll respond to the information you just acquired.
No guarantees, but you might be glad you did.
