Click bait headlines without substance or content are one of the most infuriating side effects of the new financial model for news organizations. I try to avoid the urge to click, but when that technique is used by my local paper for their on-line stories, I feel compelled to click to see whether the headline is actually a significant story.
I would say I consume most of my news on line, but not through social media (Facebook, the platform formerly known as Twitter, TikTok, others), but through Apple's curated News feed and emails from major newspapers and news magazines. (NYT, WPO, Atlantic, New Yorker). Like you, I try to manage my desire to be in the know for news as it happens, but it can be exhausting. I avoid scrolling through X for news trends and have yet to become a regular consumer of TikTok. I rarely watch television news unless it is something truly breaking that warrants watching it unfold in real time (like the January 6th insurrection).
I do like the Substack feeds that I read, like yours, which gives some context and reflection on the day's stories in addition to a summary of the important news of the day. And I know that many of your readers probably appreciate Dr. Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters from an American." Her work is a gift to Americans and future historians.
What a captivating "flip book" of media evolution in our lifetime, Elliot -- a dizzying ride from afternoon papers to the digital tsunami in just a handful of decades.
I admire your perspective of trading a breathless pace of trying to keep up for the breathing room of deeper reflection, of slow-cooked information. Mailed magazines and hardback books are the polar opposite of keeping a small go bag packed. What a perfect way to epitomize breaking Through the Fog.
It's kind of like space travel, no? We went from the first rickety aircraft at Kitty Hawk to Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong in 66 years. Less than 1 human lifetime from barely being able to lift one human up over a sand dune to launching a crew off the Earth entirely, sending them to another world completely inhospitable to them, and then bringing them all safely home again. Humans are amazing.
Except for occasionally watching Rachel Maddow on Mondays and turning to MSNBC when there is truly breaking news and not just clickbait breaking news, I pretty much have stopped watching news on TV, especially now, since mainstream media seems to be repeating its all Trump all the time "news". Except for MSNBC recently (thankfully), It is "horseracing" the campaign and ignoring the existential threat that Trump represents to our democracy.
I check headlines from The New York Times and The Washington Post on my iPhone or iMac but nowadays turn to Substack for intelligent commentary on news by people who are journalists (you, Dan), historians (Heather Cox Richardson, Timothy Snyder, Tom Cleaver, aka TCinLA), attorneys (Joyce Vance, Robert Hubbell), et al. I appreciate their analyses and perspectives and am informed by the comments of their informed and interesting readers.
I, too, tend to be an analog person in a digital world when it comes to news. As a rule, I do not like to be rushed and the frenzy of "breaking news" to which we are exposed tends to make me feel cranky, like I am never sure that the source is unbiased or even factual. Thank you for your column, Elliott. You are one of those journalists whom I feel I can trust.
What an exciting and fascinating life you have led! As I read this piece, I could feel the anxiety of your previous lifestyle coursing through my veins. In recent years, for obvious reasons, I have often felt I was an unwilling captive of the news, fearing I’d miss something critical if I turned away for even a moment. But I much prefer the current style you describe at the end of your story, and I do my best to live that way now. If it’s truly important, I’ll read about it tomorrow.
Hi Elliot. I learned about you through your Steady page with Dan Rather. I enjoyed this article very much. It's "timely", so to speak, but not just for today's news cycle. It's timely for a longer cycle that looks at news eras.
Since you're reading a book on Martin Luther King, Jr., I want a share a video to a song I wrote about him and John Lewis, and other leaders of the civil rights movement, dating back to Harriet Tubman, and including A. Philip Randolph and Paul Robeson. Not sure if the link will work here.
Thanks again for not only a great assessment of the current state of the news business, but also a recap of your distinguished career in the industry. I only met you through "Steady" and had no real understanding of your 25 year history in the news.
In 1972 I worked in radio news in New York City at a listener-supported radio station, WBAI. We were part of the Pacifica foundation. In those days, news was broadcast live once a day. Our stories tended to be more local, as we were situated in the most dynamic city in the world. Of course, national and international news were covered, as well.
The nature of the news business, in the last 50 years, has experienced two paradigm shifts that served as inflection points, altering the "airwaves landscape (how's that for an oxymoror?). The first was the Watergate hearings. WBAI devoted almost all its programming to the hearings, carrying every minute live on our air. When the hearings were off for the day, listeners engaged with on-air hosts expressing their divergent opinions. I distinctly remember gasping when Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the tapes. While on the surface it seems to be a surprise revelation, we now know that he had disclosed this information to the investigators.
When the Supreme court ruled against Nixon it was as if an earthquake hit the political world. Never in my lifetime had a few moments on the news had such a profound impact on the future.
The second inflection point was the OJ Simpson saga. CNN came of age during that episode, as millions of people around the world were captivated by this real-life soap opera being played out before our eyes. Helicopters and planes following the car chase not only provided drama, it showed how instantaneous news could impact the world. Untold millions of people were engaged with the trial, and the main players became world-side celebrities. Would we even have the Khardashian's today if not for the fact that their father was a major player in this trial? Alan Dershowitz introduced DNA concepts to the audience in a way never seen before. And of course, "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" turned Johnny Cochran into a major legal figure.
We are now approaching several possible events that can eclipse all of those incidents. The rising demand by the public for live broadcast of the Trump federal trials is going to put pressure on the courts to do what should have been done decades ago. Even if shown on delay, the public needs to see this for themselves, for only then can a truly intelligent public debate of DJT's past actions and fitness to resume office be accepted by all of America.
As for my own consumption of news, I find myself turning to the old methods, but in a new way. I read the online articles posted by news sources I trust, such the NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and other news outlets. I will occasionally watch the news broadcasts of CNN and MSNBC, but I tend to avoid it, as their use of "breaking news" diminishes the value of all of their stories. At night I do watch the opinion hosts who have a chance to delve a bit deeper into stories.
There is no doubt that increased access to news is a good thing. The danger is in determining which source you can trust. Between the different realities presented by CNN, MSNBC, and FOX, we might as well be living in different countries.
I have been reading some good stuff on Threads lately. Instagram and threads are curated by me so I have more control over what I see. I can step away, turn off NPR as needed. It helps to step away to develop my own perspective and not get caught up in extreme emotion. I am too busy for that anyway. I liked your work with Mr. Rather, a hero of mine, but I can see how that work can get you caught up in that industry. I also spend a lot of time with people who don't discuss the news at all.
Since 10/7 I have found Instagram to be an excellent source of reporting from Gaza. They are pretty heavy-handed with censorship of any criticism of Israel or the IDF, but they allow enough that I have been able to learn a lot from videos and reports that are being suppressed by the MSM.
How I think of the news cycle? I have never used social media and still have a flip phone. I grew up with only a land line and it was a lot for me to get used to having my time interrupted at anytime with a cell phone. As a daughter, wife, mother, employee, friend, casual acquaintance etc, I never wanted my time interacting with these important people to be interrupted. I still find it rude when I am talking to someone and they answer their phone. I also need to block out time for myself that is not subject to interruption so social media never made sense to me. I am pretty sure that I only have a finite number of reactions. I miss the scheduled time for the 6pm and 10 pm news. It was like a reliable meeting with a trusted friend that I could count on to have gathered all the facts and summarized them for me. Now I use a tablet to read the New York Times and the Washington Post, My local Wednesday Journal, and journals like New Science and Nature, Medscape for nurses. I like Daily Kos, Propublica, Robert Reich’s substack and Inequality Media, , Dan Rathers substack, Eric Topal from Ground Truth. I also get news from organizations that are concerned about the safety of our environment, working for equal rights, protecting a woman’s right to an abortion, etc groups that have the take action button. I miss Rachael Maddow, but love her books. I also maintain my sanity by getting the news in a more angst decreased way from Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, W. Kamau Bell, Hasan Minhaj, and all the greats on the Daily Show. I have always and will always like books, I need to underline, star, and dog ear books. They are much easier to later reference, though much harder to copy and paste. I have excepted that nothing stays the same. I try to discern the best of what is new.
Turning off all notifications was the first step I made to tuning out “breaking news”, and decreasing my anxiety. As a retiree, I rely now on regularly reading a few columns on substack and the morning edition of the online NYT. I rarely watch TV, have never been on twitter. Books are the best!!!
Thank you for taking us with you on your journey. I am glad you have discovered the importance of limiting social media. Your brain health also thanks you. You might want to check out books by Dr.Michael Greger and those by Dr. Robert Lustig.
When Trump was elected in 2016, I could not stand to listen the the news. I was in shock and disbelief so I tuned my car radio to KMFA (classical in Austin). I am still listening to it and can now name that classical tune. New skills!
This was an incredibly timely piece for me, as I’m trying to figure out how to maintain my sanity (and keep my blood pressure down) as I am bombarded with “news”. I cut the cord to cable years ago, and can’t stand the talking heads. The vast majority of my news these days comes from Substack. I have a number of favorites, including Joyce Vance, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Jay Kuo, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as the Steady newsletter. And I am so far loving Through the Fog. Far from click-bait, these Substacks go into deep analysis about current and historical events and are well worth spending an hour or so daily to stay informed.
I used to read two newspapers a day - At least all the news, editorials, and opinion columns, Then as one paper collapsed I'd be down to a single daily and sometimes a weekly local paper. Now I'm totally reliant on internet. Oh from the 1950's I'd watch my favorite TV correspondents, beginning with Edward R Murrow, then Walter Cronkite. I got so angry with the lies and innuendos reported on cable last spring I had Direct TV disconnected. Thanks to Substack I now get reliable news. I also subscribe to New York Times and Washington Post online as well as CNN
Last year I spent several hours a day reading and listening to news stories. I finally came to the position that much of it is noise with little import, particularly that of politics. Knowing news as it happens has some degree of importance when it is important globally, but much of US news is driven by clickbait headlines, and I tend to be more selective about what I read, watch and listen to by sticking to those publicans and outlets are more journalistic in nature.
I am curious how you consume the news and think of the news cycle.
Click bait headlines without substance or content are one of the most infuriating side effects of the new financial model for news organizations. I try to avoid the urge to click, but when that technique is used by my local paper for their on-line stories, I feel compelled to click to see whether the headline is actually a significant story.
I would say I consume most of my news on line, but not through social media (Facebook, the platform formerly known as Twitter, TikTok, others), but through Apple's curated News feed and emails from major newspapers and news magazines. (NYT, WPO, Atlantic, New Yorker). Like you, I try to manage my desire to be in the know for news as it happens, but it can be exhausting. I avoid scrolling through X for news trends and have yet to become a regular consumer of TikTok. I rarely watch television news unless it is something truly breaking that warrants watching it unfold in real time (like the January 6th insurrection).
I do like the Substack feeds that I read, like yours, which gives some context and reflection on the day's stories in addition to a summary of the important news of the day. And I know that many of your readers probably appreciate Dr. Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters from an American." Her work is a gift to Americans and future historians.
What a captivating "flip book" of media evolution in our lifetime, Elliot -- a dizzying ride from afternoon papers to the digital tsunami in just a handful of decades.
I admire your perspective of trading a breathless pace of trying to keep up for the breathing room of deeper reflection, of slow-cooked information. Mailed magazines and hardback books are the polar opposite of keeping a small go bag packed. What a perfect way to epitomize breaking Through the Fog.
It's kind of like space travel, no? We went from the first rickety aircraft at Kitty Hawk to Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong in 66 years. Less than 1 human lifetime from barely being able to lift one human up over a sand dune to launching a crew off the Earth entirely, sending them to another world completely inhospitable to them, and then bringing them all safely home again. Humans are amazing.
Delightfully distilled. You're an elegant, evocative writer who compelled me to read your vivid comment twice..
Thank you.
Except for occasionally watching Rachel Maddow on Mondays and turning to MSNBC when there is truly breaking news and not just clickbait breaking news, I pretty much have stopped watching news on TV, especially now, since mainstream media seems to be repeating its all Trump all the time "news". Except for MSNBC recently (thankfully), It is "horseracing" the campaign and ignoring the existential threat that Trump represents to our democracy.
I check headlines from The New York Times and The Washington Post on my iPhone or iMac but nowadays turn to Substack for intelligent commentary on news by people who are journalists (you, Dan), historians (Heather Cox Richardson, Timothy Snyder, Tom Cleaver, aka TCinLA), attorneys (Joyce Vance, Robert Hubbell), et al. I appreciate their analyses and perspectives and am informed by the comments of their informed and interesting readers.
I, too, tend to be an analog person in a digital world when it comes to news. As a rule, I do not like to be rushed and the frenzy of "breaking news" to which we are exposed tends to make me feel cranky, like I am never sure that the source is unbiased or even factual. Thank you for your column, Elliott. You are one of those journalists whom I feel I can trust.
Just think how good it would be for the country’s psyche - the anger level - if more and more people did this... thanks Elliot!
What an exciting and fascinating life you have led! As I read this piece, I could feel the anxiety of your previous lifestyle coursing through my veins. In recent years, for obvious reasons, I have often felt I was an unwilling captive of the news, fearing I’d miss something critical if I turned away for even a moment. But I much prefer the current style you describe at the end of your story, and I do my best to live that way now. If it’s truly important, I’ll read about it tomorrow.
Hi Elliot. I learned about you through your Steady page with Dan Rather. I enjoyed this article very much. It's "timely", so to speak, but not just for today's news cycle. It's timely for a longer cycle that looks at news eras.
Since you're reading a book on Martin Luther King, Jr., I want a share a video to a song I wrote about him and John Lewis, and other leaders of the civil rights movement, dating back to Harriet Tubman, and including A. Philip Randolph and Paul Robeson. Not sure if the link will work here.
https://youtu.be/wAQkkZU7y0g
Excellent memoir set to music, thank you!
Thank you!
What a fantastic tribute to great Americans!
Thank you!
Dear Elliott,
Thanks again for not only a great assessment of the current state of the news business, but also a recap of your distinguished career in the industry. I only met you through "Steady" and had no real understanding of your 25 year history in the news.
In 1972 I worked in radio news in New York City at a listener-supported radio station, WBAI. We were part of the Pacifica foundation. In those days, news was broadcast live once a day. Our stories tended to be more local, as we were situated in the most dynamic city in the world. Of course, national and international news were covered, as well.
The nature of the news business, in the last 50 years, has experienced two paradigm shifts that served as inflection points, altering the "airwaves landscape (how's that for an oxymoror?). The first was the Watergate hearings. WBAI devoted almost all its programming to the hearings, carrying every minute live on our air. When the hearings were off for the day, listeners engaged with on-air hosts expressing their divergent opinions. I distinctly remember gasping when Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the tapes. While on the surface it seems to be a surprise revelation, we now know that he had disclosed this information to the investigators.
When the Supreme court ruled against Nixon it was as if an earthquake hit the political world. Never in my lifetime had a few moments on the news had such a profound impact on the future.
The second inflection point was the OJ Simpson saga. CNN came of age during that episode, as millions of people around the world were captivated by this real-life soap opera being played out before our eyes. Helicopters and planes following the car chase not only provided drama, it showed how instantaneous news could impact the world. Untold millions of people were engaged with the trial, and the main players became world-side celebrities. Would we even have the Khardashian's today if not for the fact that their father was a major player in this trial? Alan Dershowitz introduced DNA concepts to the audience in a way never seen before. And of course, "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" turned Johnny Cochran into a major legal figure.
We are now approaching several possible events that can eclipse all of those incidents. The rising demand by the public for live broadcast of the Trump federal trials is going to put pressure on the courts to do what should have been done decades ago. Even if shown on delay, the public needs to see this for themselves, for only then can a truly intelligent public debate of DJT's past actions and fitness to resume office be accepted by all of America.
As for my own consumption of news, I find myself turning to the old methods, but in a new way. I read the online articles posted by news sources I trust, such the NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and other news outlets. I will occasionally watch the news broadcasts of CNN and MSNBC, but I tend to avoid it, as their use of "breaking news" diminishes the value of all of their stories. At night I do watch the opinion hosts who have a chance to delve a bit deeper into stories.
There is no doubt that increased access to news is a good thing. The danger is in determining which source you can trust. Between the different realities presented by CNN, MSNBC, and FOX, we might as well be living in different countries.
I have been reading some good stuff on Threads lately. Instagram and threads are curated by me so I have more control over what I see. I can step away, turn off NPR as needed. It helps to step away to develop my own perspective and not get caught up in extreme emotion. I am too busy for that anyway. I liked your work with Mr. Rather, a hero of mine, but I can see how that work can get you caught up in that industry. I also spend a lot of time with people who don't discuss the news at all.
Since 10/7 I have found Instagram to be an excellent source of reporting from Gaza. They are pretty heavy-handed with censorship of any criticism of Israel or the IDF, but they allow enough that I have been able to learn a lot from videos and reports that are being suppressed by the MSM.
How I think of the news cycle? I have never used social media and still have a flip phone. I grew up with only a land line and it was a lot for me to get used to having my time interrupted at anytime with a cell phone. As a daughter, wife, mother, employee, friend, casual acquaintance etc, I never wanted my time interacting with these important people to be interrupted. I still find it rude when I am talking to someone and they answer their phone. I also need to block out time for myself that is not subject to interruption so social media never made sense to me. I am pretty sure that I only have a finite number of reactions. I miss the scheduled time for the 6pm and 10 pm news. It was like a reliable meeting with a trusted friend that I could count on to have gathered all the facts and summarized them for me. Now I use a tablet to read the New York Times and the Washington Post, My local Wednesday Journal, and journals like New Science and Nature, Medscape for nurses. I like Daily Kos, Propublica, Robert Reich’s substack and Inequality Media, , Dan Rathers substack, Eric Topal from Ground Truth. I also get news from organizations that are concerned about the safety of our environment, working for equal rights, protecting a woman’s right to an abortion, etc groups that have the take action button. I miss Rachael Maddow, but love her books. I also maintain my sanity by getting the news in a more angst decreased way from Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, W. Kamau Bell, Hasan Minhaj, and all the greats on the Daily Show. I have always and will always like books, I need to underline, star, and dog ear books. They are much easier to later reference, though much harder to copy and paste. I have excepted that nothing stays the same. I try to discern the best of what is new.
Turning off all notifications was the first step I made to tuning out “breaking news”, and decreasing my anxiety. As a retiree, I rely now on regularly reading a few columns on substack and the morning edition of the online NYT. I rarely watch TV, have never been on twitter. Books are the best!!!
Thank you for taking us with you on your journey. I am glad you have discovered the importance of limiting social media. Your brain health also thanks you. You might want to check out books by Dr.Michael Greger and those by Dr. Robert Lustig.
When Trump was elected in 2016, I could not stand to listen the the news. I was in shock and disbelief so I tuned my car radio to KMFA (classical in Austin). I am still listening to it and can now name that classical tune. New skills!
A wonderful way to not only cope but to thrive. Thank you Patience for sharing here.
This was an incredibly timely piece for me, as I’m trying to figure out how to maintain my sanity (and keep my blood pressure down) as I am bombarded with “news”. I cut the cord to cable years ago, and can’t stand the talking heads. The vast majority of my news these days comes from Substack. I have a number of favorites, including Joyce Vance, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Jay Kuo, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as the Steady newsletter. And I am so far loving Through the Fog. Far from click-bait, these Substacks go into deep analysis about current and historical events and are well worth spending an hour or so daily to stay informed.
I used to read two newspapers a day - At least all the news, editorials, and opinion columns, Then as one paper collapsed I'd be down to a single daily and sometimes a weekly local paper. Now I'm totally reliant on internet. Oh from the 1950's I'd watch my favorite TV correspondents, beginning with Edward R Murrow, then Walter Cronkite. I got so angry with the lies and innuendos reported on cable last spring I had Direct TV disconnected. Thanks to Substack I now get reliable news. I also subscribe to New York Times and Washington Post online as well as CNN
Last year I spent several hours a day reading and listening to news stories. I finally came to the position that much of it is noise with little import, particularly that of politics. Knowing news as it happens has some degree of importance when it is important globally, but much of US news is driven by clickbait headlines, and I tend to be more selective about what I read, watch and listen to by sticking to those publicans and outlets are more journalistic in nature.