Welcome to the Soul Podcast. I’m Stacey Wheeler

I’d like you to read you a quote… 

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day. … I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors.” 

Today I’m going to make an argument about why you should quit watching the news. For some of you that may seem ridiculous or irresponsible. But give me a few minutes. You might start to see things differently. I’ll start by saying there is a health benefit when you quite the news.

So, let’s go back to the opening quote… 

That was a withering rebuke of the news. “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” Maybe you’ve felt a bit like that lately. And not just about papers, but TV news as well. I know I have. When you start to notice lies and omissions from your news source, it’s only natural to wonder what lies and omissions you aren’t noticing. Corporate media has become rampant with lies and omissions. And all the while they’re shouting at the top of their voice about “misinformation” in independent media. Essentially, they’re lying to us while calling another a liar. 

The quote is opened with is harshly worded. Some of you might even recognize who wrote it. If not, you might be surprised to know it was written more than 200 years ago by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was an American founding father, and primary author of the US Constitution. And this quote tells how even in the early 1800s, the news media spread lies. In Jefferson’s time it was limited to news papers. That was long before TV and the internet. Today, the media is everywhere. It is nearly impossible to avoid its influence. Jefferson used the word misinformation as a nice way to say “lies.”  You might recognize that when we hear the word misinformation today it’s not actually being used to call out lies. It’s being used by corporate media and world governments in the attempt to stifle free speech. As they continue to warn us against misinformation… though they are the primary spreaders of it. Are you skeptical of my assessment? Good, you should always independently verify what you allow to be part of your beliefs.  Consider this question… Do you believe all media is honest? 

I doubt it. Even if you believe that your favorite news source is honest, you must believe that the ones you reject are dishonest. You must, because you chose one news source over another, right? This is because you’ve seen things that make you think the other news isn’t being completely honest. 

So that means that not all news is honest. Some news is dishonest. Now consider this… the person who believes the news you reject thinks the same about your news sources. That’s because they’ve seen things in your news that they have found to be untrue. 

If you’re honest with yourself, you must admit you’ve also seen at least a few stories from your chosen news sources that were factually inaccurate (to put it nicely). 

So, though you chose the source you trust the most… you know you can’t completely trust them. Most of us reject the stories we see to be inaccurate or incomplete. Yet we still continue to rely on them as a trusted news source. Why do we do this? It’s like having a bowl of cereal and every now and then we find a small pebble in it. So, we pick out the pebbles as we go and resume eating -acting as though the cereal is just fine. What we should do is toss it out and find an alternative. 

Think about it like this…. If a friend is mostly honest with you but you know they sometimes lie… how much of your trust do you continue to give that friend? 

Now understand -the news is not your friend. Your friend lies to you because of a character flaw. The news (in the best case) lies to you to make money. They keep you watching to make money off add revenue. That’s the whole game. Eyes = money! They lie for cash! If your friend did that they wouldn’t be your friend for long.

Imagine you had a friend who lied to you with a profit motive. When you discovered that, would you continue to trust them? And if you did… whatever lies you decided to believe would be your own fault. That’s because you put your trust into them.

We know that the media lies. So, why do we allow them to convince us still that they are to be trusted? 

And now it’s getting worse. There’s a large conglomeration of the most powerful news outlets pushing something that they call the “Trusted News Initiative” which is designed to silence independent news sources. Including those with no profit motive!  Essentially, they want to solidify their position as the only news sources allowed to not be censored. That is a nightmare scenario, to imagine a world where only a group of self-appointed news outlets force you to get their version of the truth. And especially when we see these same organizations don’t even agree on many things. How can a group call themselves trusted sources of truth when they themselves tell us different versions of the truth?! 

Okay that’s my first Argument for quitting the news.

Here’s my second…

People have existed in our current physical form for at least 300,000 years. Our brain size has not changed in that time. Our central nervous system is the same. For most of the time we’ve existed (more than 99% of our time in this human form), we’ve been aware of immediate threats. Potential problems which are a very short distance from us. Maybe a hundred years or so. And our central nervous systems are adapted to deal with those sorts of immediate threats. Those potential triggers send us into fight or flight response. And this has kept us alive and thriving. In the past 300 years, there’s been a steady creeping in of what we can call non-dangers. 

For hundreds of thousands of years people lived entire lives and perhaps had moments of trauma. In those moments their fight or flight response kicked in and they did whatever they could in the moment to stay okay. Many people lived lives where they may have never seen war or mass suffering. But these people were rarely aware of anything more than a half mile away. 

Today, in a moment of watching “the news” we can witness atrocities on the other side of the globe. The terrible and painful images. And we’re all good at the heart of us. These stories and images hurt us. They make us sad. As they should. And then we go on with our day. Because in the end we understand that we cannot do a thing to change what we just witnessed. Then we watch again the next day to witness more horror. And we are again left with the pain that we are helpless. 

Some may argue that we must watch the news to understand what’s happening in the world. Afterall we are living in a world that is more global than ever. With the creation of nuclear weapons we must be diligent. We could all be killed by one bad leader pressing a button in anger. 

But let me ask you… can you, knowing all you watch on “the news” keep that from happening? Can you? 

I can’t… and In accept that. 

If you watch the news to stay informed you are still powerless to change the horror you are seeing. That is unless the majority of us get sick of it and find new leaders with better hearts and better minds. 

What can you do? You can make a difference on the local level. In your town. Your community. If you want to change the world, change your world. “Think globally act locally” as the saying goes. 

Or, as Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” 

Or as cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead put it,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” 

Change happens locally. It does not happen by watching the horrors of the world. 

Quite the news and live a happier life. 

I quit the news seven years ago for 30 days and I immediately felt more relaxed. I didn’t understand how much the horror of the news was making me sad. How it was casting a dark cloud on my life. And all for things I am nearly powerless to change. If you want to rest better at night, improve your focus and add more joy to life, quit the news. Don’t believe it matters to your wellbeing? Try it for 30 days. If you don’t notice a difference in 2 weeks quit. I’m confident you will notice a difference. You will feel more relaxed. You will feel more present. If you mediate your practice will improve. And you will notice that you’ve been carrying anxieties with you, you didn’t know were there. And you’ll see the source of these anxieties is “the news” and their graphic depictions of a world not worth living in. 

I recently read an article about the decline of news watchers. It was called News Engagement Plummets as Americans Tune Out. When ratings plummets, news organizations double down in their efforts to get more eyes on their channel. 

When I was in my early 20s I worked in a local TV news station as an intern. I loved history and I loved the idea or recording history. SO, as a college student I was drawn to the news. One of the fist things you learn when you work in TV news is the phrase “If it burns or bleed, it leads.” The more visceral a story, the more it is elevated. The reason is ratings. If you open with a burning building or a body being shoved into a coroner’s wagon, you’ve got their attention. And attention is what it’s all about. That’s how you sell adds. 

As fewer and fewer people go to TV news for their information, and instead use online sources -media is scrambling to stay relevant. Anything that burns or bleeds leads. Then it follows. Then they talk about all the ways the world is horrible and how one political candidate will lead us all to a horrible future. It is darkness and misery on a 24-hour loop… all to get you to watch. 

We are left with a sense of powerlessness. Some even with a sense of desperation. If you believe what you see on the news you start to believe the world is a terrible place. It’s not. There’s just a lot of money  in making you believe it is. 

In 2022 multiple studies reported that suicide rates are at an all-time high. And is it any wonder? It may be that for those already struggling, watching the news is just enough to make them give up. 

If 20 percent of the population quit the news the legacy media would be forced to shut their doors or change the way they do business. 

What we are seeing from legacy media is the last gasp of a dying industry, trying to stay relevant as they scream “fire” in the crowded theater we call the world. 

Quit the news for 30 days… And I bet you won’t go back. Because when you do, you’ll understand how much it’s hurt you, watching all the horror. You’ll understand how walking away from the abusive relationship provided by legacy media has made your life better.