Ask Lemmy

I read weekly newspapers. I used to read Morgenbladet, now I read NZZ am Sonntag, and there are many others to choose from, but getting away from trying to find something engaging each day solves a lot of problems.

I follow a single news source which doesn't just focus on US politics. They only write about it when there's actually something to write about. Other than that, I take active steps to block it everywhere else. On Lemmy I stay out of political communities and I have set content filters to cover everything from Trump to measles and I keep adding new ones every day. In today's world the only way to consume anything even remotely resembling an "optimal" amount of news is by avoiding them. People who have never tried this get the feeling of FOMO and think that they're going to then be ignorant then but the truth is that you simply cannot insulate yourself from world news unless you go live alone in a forest. When something major happens you will hear about it. Anyone consuming an unfiltered Lemmy feed because they feel the responsibility to "stay informed" are just masochists doing self-harm.

Tried to filter out as much stuff that I find annoying as possible and block things as well. It doesn't get everything unfortunately but it gets close. I think the only thing that could make it better would be some kind of image scanning filter that would remove things from the feed if it detected them in a posted image or a website preview.

I avoid getting political news from social media, including Lemmy. I don’t subscribe to any political communities. Once in a while I’ll scroll through all active posts to find new communities. But when I do that I know I’m going to run into political stuff and skip over it.

While most of the political posts on both Reddit and Lemmy lean the same way politically as I do, they can often be sensationalized so I have a general distrust of those stories. If something does happen to grab my attention I try to look it up from a reputable news source.

I use Apple News to track current events. I even pay out money for their “News+”. It aggregates many news sources. I can block sources I don’t want to see, and more importantly I can add a list of favorites news sources for quick viewing and to encourage those sources to take priority in my feed. As for my sources I try to pick the most boring and bland news organizations available. Think PBS, NPR, Reuters, etc.

Nothings perfect but this has been working for me for over a year now. I feel reasonably well informed without a lot of the drama.

Apple News isn’t perfect. I still get pushed a lot of celebrity gossip news no matter how many times I click “suggest less”.

i simply stay uninformed. all the important news will come through memes and bypass all keyword filters i set anyway

we weren't made to receive bad news from around the globe 24/7 beamed directly into our pockets. i prefer to be happy

I've tried and failed. No matter what, it keeps seeping in. Filters, only following certain communities and people, avoiding some platforms, it doesn't matter. I'm considering getting a dumb phone and running off to the woods.

Lemmy is my line. Have one account just for politics, and another with everything but - that way I can control my exposure.

I have subscribed to about a dozen daily news e-mails. I skim through them for half an hour every morning with my first coffee. Once time is up, delete the rest & move on w my day. Only exception is I do make a point to make sure I've read at least 1 liberal & 1 conservative viewpoint.

I stop reading when my brain starts hurting.

Before November, I did it by mainly looking at AP News. During November I was kind of a mess. After November, no news at all. My lemmy feed is comic strips, Linux, photography, and asklemmy, a few other things that are not political. If major shit happens I hear from my partner or friends, but they all know I'm not that interested. My YouTube feed is Buddhist stuff, standup comedy, and hobby rabbit holes. I even filtered out the lefty late night shows (daily show etc). I know the basics of what's going on, but don't feel any need to get daily updates on it and I'm feeling pretty sane compared to a few months ago! We donate to Palestinian charities, HRC, etc., are active in other ways, but this daily media crap is not healthy.

I have all major news sources and US politics tags blocked on Mastodon. I also continually block subs focused on US news here on Lemmy.

Frankly, I don’t trust news media or any kind. The purpose of those publications is to make sure they’re distributed as widely as possible to sell ads. So I don’t look at them unless I have to.

I do, however, follow some local chatter for my city, as the relevant news is there.

Personally I feel I manage to still stay informed, since anything of real importance will break through my block list anyway.

I draw the line at whiskey/beer. I need both in order to watch the evening news. I won't engage with socials until properly lubricated by both.

"This is fine." (meme)

I ignore news that don't concern me, my family, city or country. The rest is labeled under "societal spectacle", drama that I cant change unless i have to stop working and dedicate a whole life to fix that problem. Its ok to admit "bugger this" and just turning off the news, if only a while.

Its good to stay informed but I can hardly point at a piece of "news" that absolutly changed my life, career, relationships etc...

It feels like you have to build a skill that sorts news into "I cant do shit about this, (because of valid reasons)" and "wait what are they gutting from my social services that I paid for most of my life through taxes?".

I stay uninformed but in the rare times I want to be up to date, financial news sources are pretty good, they cover world news briefly and their kind of clickbait is easy to ignore - they don't do rage bait but try to make you invest in something.

you really have to be a pessimist

I use grund news to keep up to date. I use Lemmy to get enraged.

I've finally made the choice and filtered trump posts, it took a while to figure out how Eternity does it.

I still watch Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel.

Staying away from opinionated news outlets. News from outlets like Reuters or AP usually just deliver the news straight up.

Of important things you will get informed want it or not.

It's better to just pursue news on things you like and enjoy to avoid depression.

If news stress you out I would recommend to actually avoid them. It's what I do and I am still oversaturated with news, so there's no risk on being missinformed.

For me I disassociate. I know the people around me by and large love and/or care for me and if shit hit the fan I'm fine.

The news is just entertainment. I love watching the news. I love politics. Sometimes it's surreal and scary but in no ways do I feel worried. I worry for those around me because they may not be able to protect themselves due to age or capacity but then that's why I'm there if required.

It's not always the same over time. Currently, I read Lemmy and occasionally tagesschau.de (recently less, want to more again).

Web and text means I can scroll and read what I want, without dwelling to much on it (like video news, intro then video then expert interview or worse). I can skim, or read comment interpretation or summarization. I can comment and discuss.

I have this account for general, and a different on programming.dev. When I open that one I see no or few politics (that kind at least). Etc.

I prioritize staying informed over well-being. But I also don't trust everything I see. Which is the real reason (or one of them) why I mainly watch local news. I wouldn't be like "I don't want to see who among us is in danger of being nuked, nuclear bombs are so unsightly to watch". It is best to prepare for longer-term benefit.

Alcohol

I would recommend taking only a certain amount of time per day on news AND social media, like maybe half an hour after work.