Why is it Hard to Stay Politically Informed?
My mom tells me that even when I was a baby, I was obsessed with the news. As a toddler I gravitated to the anchors and their all-knowing voices. I loved the array of hard-hitting and heart-warming stories that television news chose to highlight. I found it comforting and entertaining all at the same time.
The news and late night television became an even greater part of my life during the 2016 Presidential campaign. I watched the Saturday Night Live parodies of the Trump and Clinton campaigns. Waiting for the results of primaries had me pulling all-nighters. During such a chaotic time, the news felt like a place of solace.
Donald Trump had Americans glued to their television screens. It was like watching a car crash or a horror movie, except it was all very real. The Trump presidency caused a steep rise in cable and network news ratings, as headlines about Donald Trump’s insane tweets or actions drew the greatest attention from viewers. During his 2016 campaign and early presidency, entertainment media also benefited from the organic comedic fodder of Trump. Late night television and family sitcoms that poked fun at the president saw increased viewership. It was horrific and hilarious and difficult to tune out.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
But… we did. We got tired of the 24-hour news cycle and its focus on Trump. By November of 2019 two-thirds of Americans had “news fatigue”. People got tired of hearing about the horrible things happening in the world. Some felt overwhelmed by the president’s ability to dodge consequences despite his constant bad behavior. With outrageous news breaking multiple times a day, it can be difficult to keep up and stay energized in opposition.
Source: Pew Research
It wasn’t all the fault of the viewer. There were times that news sources were too focused on the attention storm Trump’s words and tweets stirred up rather than the impact of his actions.New York Times political reporter Astead Herndon described this phenomenon in his interview with Slate:
“I went to Trump rallies and I wrote about Trump from a base level. I wrote about white grievance in the Republican Party. I wrote about conspiracies and violence. And I think that those things have held up. What would I have done differently? I think that that first year and a half, there could have been much more grounding, rather than feigning shock at every tweet. The real inadequacy of writing about Trump is when you write from the top down. What I liked about the last two years was I think there’s been an increasing willingness to write about Trump from the bottom up—how it was affecting people, rather than who he is as an individual leader.”
- Astead W. Herndon
Flash forward to summer 2020, my mom has the daily COVID briefing from Dr. Fauci and Donald Trump playing on CNN. I roll my eyes as I walk into the living room and say, “Can we please just go one day without watching this stuff.” I see in the corner of the screen an ever increasing tally count of Coronavirus cases and deaths. I feel my body react to the bleak outlook with slumped shoulders and a knot in my stomach. I just want to tune it all out.
When 2020 hit, television news became especially sickening. Hearing news anchors list the casualty count from COVID and predict the rising numbers for the coming weeks felt like a new level of trauma. Watching the final 8 minutes and 46 seconds of George Floyd’s life play before our eyes over and over again on national television was agonizing. It was all a lot to handle.
Some people chose to tune out. Others simply couldn’t turn away. The fact is that most people have a desire to stay informed about the world around them. But the toll on one’s mental and emotional energy can feel draining. Watching too much news can leave someone feeling powerless. But watching too little news can lead to someone being uninformed or even misinformed.
Whether they found themselves unable to turn off the news or avoiding it all together, the media consumption habits of America needs to be reimagined in order to see a more active and informed public. Transformation in the media industry, education system, and government communications are necessary in order for Americans to consume the news in healthy and helpful ways. Here are some important questions to consider as we conceptualize news media in the U.S.
Media Industry
The problem: The broadcast news media does not always report in helpful ways that promote civic engagement
The broadcast media industry places a disproportionate amount of emphasis on ratings. Take for instance Trump’s daily COVID briefings that were full of misinformation. The viewer ratings for these events rivaled that of primetime football but it was harming public health knowledge.
The broadcast media industry needs to consider the ethics of covering topics of murder. Is it useful to replay footage of a person’s murder on repeat over multiple weeks? How can the news media pay respect to the deceased, especially Black and Brown victims of police violence?
How can quality news content become more accessible? Print publications that often have the ability to go in depth on policy issues, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, are currently behind paywalls.
Education System
The problem: The education system does not serve as adequate training to create properly informed and active citizens
The U.S. education system doesn’t prepare people to dissect and consume media for civic engagement. How can a curriculum based on media literacy be incorporated into all American high schools?
How can schools teach students about creating a healthy media/news diet? People need to recognize the harmful effects of watching too much news and find ways to create healthy boundaries for themselves.
How can schools teach students to point out misinformation? Right now it can be hard to tell the difference between real news and fake news. We can curb the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories by teaching young people how to spot them.
Government Communications
The problem: Government communications are not targeted and accessible to the broad American public, leaving them very reliant on news media to transmit/translate misinformation
Why can’t the government make information more accessible? Americans are reliant on the news media to translate complex government information.
While some information is hidden and requires investigative journalism to uncover it, this should not be true for everything that the government does
There are language barriers to government communications that leaves large groups of people uninformed.
It has taken a while but I think I have finally found a balance that works for me. Morning briefing newsletters help me to stay informed. Limiting my television news intake to 1 hour a day of quality programming (such as NBC Nightly News or PBS NewsHour) helps keep me engaged but not overwhelmed. The world is still very messy, but with a healthier relationship to the news, that knot in my stomach has slowly faded away.
As we advocate for change Americans need to do their best to stay informed and stay vigilant in demanding more from our leaders. At the same time, individuals need to keep healthy boundaries between themselves and the media; Otherwise we risk being uninformed or being too dejected to act.
Other sources
We need to pay close attention to news fatigue and news avoidance
All This Chaos Might Be Giving You ‘Crisis Fatigue’