I've distinctly noticed a sharp rise in toxicity in media (mostly, but not limited to, politics). But even if you cut that toxic part out of your own life, we don't live in a vacuum; friends, co-workers, and family will relay toxic news and media, despite effectively all of it being irrelevant to our everyday lives. This actually affects my demeanor not in that I just heard toxic news, but that I can see this person in my life is actively being needlessly poisoned by irrelevant negativity.

I don't have an answer to this though. Thoughts on how to improve the situation would be appreciated.