How To Change Your Post-Trump Media Diet

Soon after Donald Trump became president, a cartoon by David Sipress for the New Yorker circulated on social media, capturing the mood of many viewers and readers trying to cope with the current barrage of breaking news. It showed a couple walking down the street, while the woman declares: “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.”

A few weeks later, The New York Times published this article, with experts suggesting how to change your news diet. As a journalist and co-founder of the Constructive Journalism Project, both the cartoon and the article instantly resonated with me.

I liked the article because it made all of us — as media consumers — aware of the significant impact of the news on our wellbeing.

It features Graham C. L. Davey, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Sussex in England, who explains that many people follow the news because they do not want to be caught unawares: “These are the people with an intolerance of uncertainty, and are probably already anxious individuals, and are exactly the ones for whom negative news has a negative psychological impact on their own personal anxieties and worries. As consumers become satiated, the news media responds by increasing the 'emotionality' of its coverage, meaning negativity is emphasised to keep customers engaged.”

The article also highlights more radical interventions, like news eradicator apps for your social media feeds. While I understand people turn away sometimes (I do it too, even as a journalist!), I do believe we need a consumer-driven demand for a more compassionate and constructive kind of media.

Positive psychology researcher and colleague of mine, Jodie Jackson, put this eloquently in a video poem, which would have been a nice addition to this otherwise helpful article.