Do you avoid the news? You're in growing company. (WAPO) [View all]

[usonian]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/08/01/news-avoid-depressing/
https://archive.is/Xuy8c

By Paul Farhi

To be sure, it’s hard on any given day to find much news that can be described as “positive” or “uplifting.” By definition, “news” tends to be dramatic, unusual and rife with conflict. Consider the old journalism cliché: News is the plane that didn’t land, not the many that did.

But bad news isn’t the only reason many consumers are tuning out the news, says Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, the Reuters Institute’s director.

Part of the problem, he says, is that publishers are in hot pursuit of news consumers who are willing to pay for news — subscription buyers, in other words — and shape their offerings around the perceived needs and interests of customers who are relatively affluent, educated and “politically interested.”

That, in turn, may further alienate the “parts of the public who are disconnected from politics and less privileged,” he says — and lead to even more news avoidance

Hate and lies will ALWAYS be free. Elon even pays for them.