Comment by VWWHFSfQ | Hacker News Reader

Comment by VWWHFSfQ | Hacker News Reader

I stopped watching the "news" (especially local news) 5 years ago and I've never been happier. The "news" will never make you feel good. It will only ever make you feel angry, fearful, anxious, or disenfranchised in some way. It will only make you feel like "everything is going to shit."

And that's just TV news. I also stopped participating in unfiltered social media. No more Facebook except close friends or family. But if they start sharing garbage then they get muted. No exceptions. I'll go look at your feed if I care about what you're up to.

My "news" comes from highly-moderated, topic-focused groups. HN, for example. But I will gladly stop reading (and downvote) a comment halfway through if it's nonsense.

I'm not living in "blissful ignorance". I'm not putting my "head in the sand." I know what's going on in the world. I just choose not to be consumed by it. And my daily mood and outlook-on-life has improved dramatically because of that.

> I know what's going on in the world.

This doesn’t really square with what the rest of your comment says. One would at least expect you to have mentioned regular reading of high-quality newspapers / magazines in order to justify this claim.

What is an example of a high-quality newspaper / magazine that the OP should read?

Something that expects a reading level greater than that of an average high-school student and offers long, dense articles.

I’m thinking The Atlantic, Financial Times, The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Wall Street Journal, etc. Each varies in their biases and you grow to recognize them as you read more but they’re generally reliable sources written by serious people.

There are of course also smaller, local papers worth reading. There are also papers I consider of lesser quality that still have some good journalists working for them —- but you have to actually read the byline and know who’s writing rather than focus on the brand. An unfortunate number of people don’t get past “NYT said X” and “National Review said Y”

>I’m thinking The Atlantic, Financial Times, The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Wall Street Journal, etc.

At a certain level of sophistication one comes to realize the publications you listed are just as "garbage" as the pre-graduate level productions the parent avoids.

Good thing I haven't reached that level of sophistication.

I like the National Interest for foreign policy stuff. They're opinion pieces, except from people who actually kinda matter, and it's important to check the author. I'll read something even if it's from a think tank I don't like.

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