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Are you trying to avoid news? Why?

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I am a climate and science/technology reporter. I am interested in the effects of climate change on everyday life and scientific solutions. Born in London, I am a dual citizen of Switzerland and the UK. After studying modern languages and translation, I trained as a journalist and joined swissinfo.ch in 2006. My working languages are English, German, French and Spanish.

Fewer and fewer people read the news these days, a new global report shows. Around four in ten (39%) now say they avoid the news sometimes or often, the latest Digital News ReportExternal link by the Reuters Institute says.

This comes at a time when billions of people around the world are participating in national and regional elections this year. 

Are you very interested in news or a “news avoider”? How do you consume news? Why do you think overall interest in news is falling? 

Join our debate. Let us know your thoughts in the conversation below.

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Woman reads paper in bar.

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Demographics

Why are you avoiding the news?

This content was published on Record numbers of people are turning away from news. Is this due to general news fatigue, mental health worries or mounting concerns about the use of AI?

Read more: Why are you avoiding the news?

Join the conversation!

Contributions must adhere to our guidelines. If you have questions or wish to suggest other ideas for debates, please, get in touch!
Marzano
Marzano
The following contribution has been automatically translated from PT.

Good morning.
Even though I'm a journalist by training, I've noticed that the mainstream press has become increasingly militant and this influences the quality of the news and the veracity of the facts. I believe that part of the population is beginning to realise this manipulation, which is making them look for other ways to find out, weakening the traditional daily newspapers and strengthening independent journalism.

Bom dia.
Mesmo sendo jornalista de formação observo que a grande imprensa tem se tornado cada vez mais militante e isso influencia na qualidade da notícia e na veracidade dos fatos. Acredito que parte da população começa a perceber essa manipulação o que faz ela procurar outros meios para se informar enfraquecendo os já tradicionais jornais diários e fortalecendo o jornalismo independente.

Anonymous
Anonymous
The following contribution has been automatically translated from PT.

The media can't transform. And history moves too slowly.

A .mdia nao consegue ser transformadora. E a historia anda muito devagar.

garciaec
garciaec

I am not interested in news , I try to avoid them because they make me change my mood. If I wanna know some theme in specific I prefer to check it out by my own.

EDNA
EDNA
The following contribution has been automatically translated from PT.

Lack of good information. Objective information.

Falta de boas informaçoes. Informaçoes objetivas.

Leonel Figueroa
Leonel Figueroa
The following contribution has been automatically translated from ES.

I try to be SELECTIVE with the news: for negative news (crime, political scandals and so on), I watch and/or read the headlines and rarely dwell on the details; for positive news (sports, social media and so on), I actively participate.
If there is a shooting in the USA or an execrable rape in France, I avoid the details so as NOT to get "down" and lose confidence in humanity. I am aware, for example, of the fraud in Venezuela and its possible migratory repercussions in my country, Peru, but I am inclined to look on the bright side of the news: it motivates me to do better every day and to hope for a better world.

Trato de ser SELECTIVO con las noticias: de las noticias negativas (crímenes, escándalos polícos y otros), veo y/o leo los titulares y rara vez me detengo en los detalles; de las positivas (deportes, redes sociales y así por el estilo), sí participo activamente.
Si hay un tiroteo en USA o una violación execrable en Francia, evito los pormenores para NO "bajonearme" y me haga la perder la confianza en la humanidad. Estoy conciente, por ejemplo, del fraude en Venezuela y de sus posibles repercusiones migratorias en mi país, Perú, pero me inclino a buscar el lado amable a las noticias: me motiva a hacer mejor las cosas día a día y tener esperanzas de un mundo mejor.

Tony
Tony

To some extent I avoid the news because the media spend far too long giving their own, frequently biased, opinion and speculating about what may happen.
From a news programme I want facts. That’s all.

jepyerly@websud.ch
jepyerly@websud.ch
The following contribution has been automatically translated from FR.

There are too many lies, too much money, too many fine words, too little practical knowledge, while the main and essential players are hard at work.

Trop de mensonges, de fric, de belles paroles, de méconnaissances pratiques , alors que les acteurs principaux ,et indispensables sont à la tache .

brigur
brigur
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

On the one hand, there is the news about the world situation; climate, politics, war.... It's so negative that I've been unable to bear it for a long time. But then - especially on social media - local disasters from all over the world are foisted on us. The fact that the terrible accident with three fatalities occurred in California is only revealed far down in the text. Of course, the victims are to be pitied. But no human being can bear the suffering of the whole world. The makers are no longer interested in information, this is not "news". This is about collecting clicks. At the expense of mental health.

Es gibt einerseits die Nachrichten zur Weltlage; Klima, Politik, Krieg.... Die sind dermassen negativ, dass ich sie schon lange nicht mehr ertrage. Dann aber - vor allem in den sozialen Medien - werden einem auch die lokalen Katastrophen aus der ganzen Welt untergejubelt. Dass sich der schreckliche Unfall mit drei Todesopfern in Kalifornien ereignet hat, erfährt man erst weit unten im Text. Natürlich sind die Opfer zu bedauern. Aber kein Mensch kann das Leid der ganzen Welt ertragen. Hier geht es den Machern nicht mehr um Information, das sind keine "Nachrichten". Hier werden Klicks gesammelt. Auf Kosten der psychischen Gesundheit.

Lyra
Lyra

I have stopped reading the news since 2013 and along with quitting smoking they are the best decisions i ever made. Both toxic habits, totally unnecessary and have absolutely nothing to contribute to our well being apart from physical and mental health issues and bad aftertaste.

Suze
Suze

Looking this morning online at the headlines on the U.K. news page of what was once considered a quality U.K. newspaper, I found only a catalogue of pictures of people from all walks of life with headlines about their misdemeanours and what he or she did or said. It gives the impression more of gossip columns of a popular tabloid than the serious business of delivering the latest news. This morning there is nothing, or very little offered on more important news on internal affairs such as government policy followed in the articles by informed and reasoned debate.

Whilst I find skimming the headlines to keep in touch with what is going on in the world and reading a few articles of interest over breakfast a good way of waking up in the morning I am now questioning the real value of this habit. I also save some articles to read later in the day. There is, however, very little depth to most articles, many are hastily and badly put together, their accuracy is questionable and I often find I have learned very little and usually end up resorting to Google on whst I hope are trusted sources for further background information.

Agripin
Agripin
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

Obviously I'm interested in news, news based on real events. From there, there are the general opinions that may be suggestions of general interest and I'm still interested in news with scientific content,
based on observation to draw conclusions.
ps;
I apologise for any grammatical errors .

Offensichtlich interessiere ich mich für Nachrichten, Nachrichten, die auf realen Ereignissen basieren. Von da an gibt es die allgemeinen Meinungen, die Vorschläge von allgemeinem Interesse sein können und ich bin immer noch interessiert für Nachrichten mit wissenschaftlichem Inhalt,
die auf Beobachtung beruhen, um Schlussfolgerungen zu ziehen.
ps;
für eventuelle Grammatikalische Fehlern ich bitte um Verständnis .

yuniorellibre
yuniorellibre
The following contribution has been automatically translated from ES.

At least I do not avoid news but certain sources that do not respond to the professional ethics of journalism. Information is power.

Al menos yo no evito las noticias sino ciertas fuentes que que no responden a la ética profesional del periodismo. La información es poder.

Manuel Mecha
Manuel Mecha
The following contribution has been automatically translated from PT.

I haven't stopped.
However, I think that, for the most part, the news is the same on all information channels.
"The media need to inform their readers with local and regional news rather than just world news.
I don't live in Switzerland, I've visited Switzerland several times and I'm interested in its news. News about their local and general politics, their culture and way of life.
Thank you

Não parei.
No entanto acho, que na maior parte dos casos, as notícias, na sua genelalidade, são as mesmas em todos os canais de informação.
"Os mídea" precisam informar os seu leitores, tambem com notícias locais e regionais em vez de, e só, mundais.
Eu não vivo na Suiça, já visitei a Suiça várias vezes e tenho interesse nas suas notícias. Notícias sobre a sua política local e geral, sobre a sua gultura e modo de vida.
Obrigado

Amarcor
Amarcor
The following contribution has been automatically translated from ES.

As a journalist and communicator, I believe that there is a global phenomenon, understanding as such what happens in the West, where there are, one supposes, common parameters to measure these issues. And this common characteristic is, with some exceptions, the trivialisation and bastardisation of news of any kind. This has to do with the acute and prolonged crisis of the traditional press media. This has to do with the acute and prolonged crisis of the traditional presses that ruled in analogue times. The adaptation to new technologies has been erratic, often not profitable - which led journalists to suffer, generally, a low level of income in their jobs. And it was thought that it was enough to adapt modes to the new world of the internet, first, and then to the social networks that developed. But the public began to massively migrate its interest to these applications, falling prey to deceptions and simplifications (fake news, etc.) and gradually losing its sense of proportions, its good judgement, its ability to read and analyse critically. Today, there remains a cenacle of good media and good professionals. But the mass media is trivialised. And it is often misleading. This is most noticeable in countries like Argentina, where the recurrent economic crises and the oligopolistic conditions of the media markets have contributed too much to the loss of prestige of the world of information, regardless of where the news is disseminated.

Como periodista y comunicador, creo que hay un fenómeno global, entendiendo como tal lo que ocurre en Occidente, donde existen, se supone, parámetros comunes como para medir sobre estas temáticas. Y esta característica común es, salvo excepciones, la de banalización y bastardeo de las noticias, de cualquier índole. Esto tiene que ver con la crisis aguda y prolongada de los soportes de prensas tradicionales. Que regían en épocas analógicas. La adaptación a las nuevas tecnologías ha sido errática, muchas veces no redituable -lo que llevó a los periodistas a padecer, generalmente, un bajo nivel de ingresos en sus puestos de trabajo-. Y se pensó que bastaba con adaptar los modos al novedoso mundo de internet, primero, y a las redes sociales que se desarrollaron, después. Pero el público masivamente comenzó a migrar su interés a estas aplicaciones, siendo presa de engaños y simplificaciones (fake news, etc.) y fue perdiendo, paulatinamente, el sentido de las proporciones, su buen juicio valorativo, la capacidad de lectura y análisis críticos. Queda hoy un cenáculo de buenos medios y buenos profesionales. Pero la gran mass media está trivializada. Y suele ser engañosa. Esto se nota más en países como la Argentina, donde las recurrentes crisis económicas y las condiciones oligopólicas de los mercados de medios, han contribuido en demasía a la pérdida de prestigio del mundo de la información, más allá de por dónde se difundan las noticias.

1979 PARNIA
1979 PARNIA
The following contribution has been automatically translated from FR.

No !
I hadn't given up on Swiss news.
My health had been the cause over the last few weeks.
Yours sincerely

Non !
Je n'avait pas renoncé aux actualités Suisse.
Ma santé avait été la cause durant les dernières semaines.
Mes sincères salutations !

urshebeisen
urshebeisen
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

I consume a lot of media and enjoy reading the news, but my trust in certain journalists has suffered in recent years. Very often you can tell from the headlines or the title of an article whose brainchild they are. Then there is no need to read any further.

Konsumiere viele Medien und lese gerne Nachrichten, allerdings hat das Vertrauen in gewisse Journalisten in den letzten Jahren gelitten. Sehr oft erkennt man schon in den Schlagzeilen oder am Titel eines Artikels wessen Geistes Kind sie sind. Dann erübrigt sich eine weitere Lektüre.

Femaleart
Femaleart
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

I have been dosing the news for several decades. Of course there are always a small number of positive reports, but the media thrive on people's thirst for sensation. The dosage helps me to maintain my inner balance and my karma, i.e. my mental attitude. Too many of these horror stories lead to a kind of powerlessness that slowly but steadily eats away at you. In general, humans are not created to know what is happening on the other side of the earth, our existence is limited to the herd and those who allow themselves to be constantly stirred up from the outside neglect their immediate surroundings. it is enormously important to walk concentrically through our immediate surroundings and not constantly travelling from one island of experience to the next. This is the only way to see all the little clues that explain the world to you, which I think is the best protection against fake news. Anyone who has ever spent a night looking at the stars or observed the moon with a telescope would never come up with such a brainwashed idea that the earth is flat, to name just one example, and anyone who wrote a dis and rummaged through an archive would ever claim that our schools are just lying to us. I rarely find common sense anymore, but views that are so brainwashed that I often feel very lonely because I can't find anyone with whom I can exchange ideas in a cultured and thoughtful way.

Ich dosiere die Nachrichten schon seit mehreren Jahrzehnten. Gewiss gibt es immer wieder mal einen kleinen Anteil positiver Berichte aber die Medien leben ja von der Sensationsgier der Menschen. Die Dosierung hilft mir im inneren Gleichgewicht zu bleiben und mein Karma also meine Mentale Einstellung aufrecht zu erhalten. Zu viele dieser Schreckensbotschaften führen zu einer Art Machtlosigkeit die einem langsam aber Stetig auffrisst. Überhaupt ist der Mensch nicht geschaffen um zu wissen was auf der Anderen Seite der Erde gerade geschieht, unser Dasein beschränkt sich auf die Herde und wer sich von aussen ständig aufwühlen lässt. vernachlässigt dein unmittelbares Umfeld. es ist enorm wichtig unsere direkt Umgebung konzentrisch zu begehen und nicht ständig von Erlebnisinsel zu Erlebnisinsel zu fahren. Nur so sieht man all die kleinen Hinweise die einem die Welt erklären was ich als besten Schutz gegen Fake News halte. Jeder sich mal eine Nacht die Sterne angesehen hat, den Mond mit dem Teleskop beobachtet würde doch nie auf eine so Gehirnamputierte Idee kommen die Erde wäre flach, um einfach ein Beispiel zu nennen und jeder der eine Dis schrieb und sich durch ein Archiv wühlte würde jemals behaupten, unsere Schulen würden uns nur belügen. Gesunder Menschenverstand finde ich nur noch selten, dafür Ansichten die so Hirnverbrannt sind dass ich mich aber auch oftmals sehr einsam fühle weil ich niemanden finde. mit dem ich mich kultiviert und bedacht austauschen kann.

Iwediniw
Iwediniw
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

To the first paragraph of my post from 21:15:
I had to realise that I had only read a condensed version of the Digital News Report in advance. The English original reports that 39% of those surveyed are so-called news deniers.
So the extent of the phenomenon is also well known internationally.

The first paragraph of my article should therefore be replaced as follows:

The Digital News Report reports that 39% of respondents are so-called news deniers. One of the main reasons: the excessive negativity of the news!

Zum ersten Absatz meines Beitrags von 21:15:
Ich musste feststellen, dass ich vorab nur eine komprimierte Fassung des Digital News Report gelesen habe. Das englische Original vermeldet, dass 39% der Befragten sogenannte News-Verweigerer sind.
Das Ausmass des Phänomens ist also auch international bestens bekannt.

Der erste Absatz meines Beitrag sollte deshalb wie folgt ersetzt werden:

Der Digital News Report meldet, dass 39% der Befragten sogenannte News-Verweigerer sind. Einer der Hauptgründe: die überbordende Negativität der Nachrichten!

Iwediniw
Iwediniw
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

Most astonishing: the Digital News Report lists a number of reasons why fewer and fewer people are consuming news, but one of the most important points is not mentioned anywhere: the exuberant negativity of the news!

I know quite a few people who are fed up with being constantly 'dragged down'. Feelings such as: 'The world is bad and I can't do anything about it' or 'Politics is/are bad, hardly anything is going well' are standard answers when asked for reasons. And then the media also wonder why the population is disenchanted with politics.

Journalists are (actually) aware of the problem. Nevertheless, they can't bring themselves to report regularly and in a reasonably dense way on major positive events. When UN organisations report that never before have so few people been hungry, that never before have so few people lived in poverty and other reports of this kind come in, the media hardly consider this newsworthy, let alone report (in detail - a whole lot of information can be packed into 90 seconds) on why this is the case. The same applies locally: record-low burglary or crime rates and the like are hardly worth reporting, let alone reporting extensively on the reasons for this. Politicians and authorities could suddenly look quite positive - this is not relevant news for many journalists!

Perhaps we simply need a new generation of journalists: not just those who report on and bemoan the disenchantment with the news, but those who constructively search for a new balance in the news.

Höchst erstaunlich: der Digital News Report listet etliche Punkte auf, warum immer weniger Menschen Nachrichten konsumieren, aber einer der wohl wichtigsten Punkte wird nirgends erwähnt: die überbordende Negativität der Nachrichten!

Ich kenne etliche Personen, die keine Lust mehr darauf haben, konstant "heruntergezogen" zu werden. Gefühle wie: 'Die Welt ist schlecht, und ich kann nichts dagegen machen' oder 'Die Politik(er/innen) ist/sind schlecht, kaum etwas läuft gut' sind Standardantworten, wenn nach Gründen gefragt wird. Und dann wundern sich die Medien gleich auch noch über die Politikverdrossenheit der Bevölkerung.

Die Journalisten wissen (eigentlich) um das Problem. Trotzdem können Sie sich nicht dazu überwinden, regelmässig und einigermassen dicht über grosse positive Ereignisse zu berichten. Wenn UN-Organisationen darüber berichten, dass noch nie so wenig Menschen Hunger hatten, dass noch nie so wenig Menschen in Armut lebten und andere Meldungen dieser Art eintreffen, dann ist das den Medien kaum eine Nachricht wert, geschweige denn, (ausführlich - in 90 Sekunden bringt man schon eine ganze Menge Informationen hinein) darüber zu berichten, warum dass dies so ist. Dasselbe gilt auch lokal: rekordniedrige Einbruchs- oder Verbrechensraten und ähnliches sind kaum eine Meldung wert, geschweige denn, dass man über die Gründe dafür ausgiebig berichtet. Da könnten Politiker/Innen und Behörden ja plötzlich ganz positiv dastehen - das sind für viele Journalisten keine relevanten News!

Vielleicht braucht es einfach eine neue Generation Journalisten: nicht nur solche, die über die Nachrichtenverdrossenheit berichten und sie bejammern, sondern solche, die konstruktiv nach einer neuen Balance in den Nachrichten suchen.

Giannis Mavris
Giannis Mavris SWI SWISSINFO.CH
The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.
@Iwediniw

That's a good point you raise. And also one that is well known and discussed in the editorial offices. The question is always the same: What is the right mix? If the media were to ignore the negative, they would make themselves irrelevant. Focusing solely on this paints an inaccurate picture of the world.

More constructive journalism is being touted as a solution. Is that something you would like to see more of?

Das ist ein guter Punkt, den Sie da ansprechen. Und auch einer, der in den Redaktionen durchaus bekannt ist und diskutiert wird. Die Frage ist immer die gleiche: Welches ist der richtige Mix? Würden Medien das Negative ausblenden, würden sie sich irrelevant machen. Konzentriert man sich einzig darauf, malt man ein ungenaues Bild der Welt.

Mehr konstruktiver Journalismus wird als eine Lösung angepriesen. Wäre das etwas, dass Sie gerne mehr sehen würden?

Maryna Hrabar
Maryna Hrabar

Why people in Switzerland try avoide news? And how about article " Restraints increasingly used on psychiatric patients in Switzerland". It was night, I was in my bed. I was arrested for my dreams by police. My door was thrown away by not police person. I have video outside of my door from not police person. And I was 2 months as a dangerously patient under the Article. So we are dangerous for whom? For what? And maybe Switzerland become dangerous for people with ideas, views and reading? I have all documents and ready to answer all questions. S status, Donetsk region and legal in Switzerland.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR