Notes from our conversation
Introduction
Is it okay to stick your head in the sand? This means not facing up to unpleasant facts. It’s something we all do, including around the climate crisis. The phrase “sticking your head in the sand” sounds a bit critical or negative of something that can be self-protective. But do we need to always be engaging with the climate crisis and how can we take a break without disengaging entirely?
Our feelings about our news and social media consumption
In our conversation this week, we explored distancing and our response to the news we see and hear.
- The news is everywhere. Social media, the television, newspapers, and the radio. We thought that it was good to keep up with the news, but some stories don’t need examining everyday as things don’t always change that rapidly. It’s important to check in maybe once a week. If the news is overwhelming, then it’s better to switch off than get depressed.
- There is so much going on, and we are bombarded with news all the time. It’s too difficult to keep up with all of it and we need time to digest it.
- It can feel callous to just look away and if you don’t know anything about the news you certainly can’t do anything about it.
- But just knowing about the news doesn’t necessarily help, and it isn’t possible to understand fully everything that is going on, so just understanding one piece of the news may be of more value.
- It’s good to bear witness to some parts of the news.
- The reports we see and hear aren’t always straightforward and it’s difficult to find out the facts and all the sides of the story. Moving away from it for half an hour will help to sort out what is really going on.
- The news programs are put together, and there is a blurred line between entertainment and news. Algorithms in social media will be telling us what to watch.
What can we do?
Next, we talked about our ideas for how to manage news and distancing.
- Identify when you are doom scrolling and why, for example, procrastination.
- Just pick one news piece to follow.
- Go out of your way to get different perspectives on a news item.
- Accept that the world is a bad place.
- Remember that sometimes the negative can turn into something positive.
- Try and find someone in authority or entertainment with integrity to follow. Chris Packham was given as an example.
- Question your beliefs about the news.
- If you find a piece you are going to read, you might want to save it for later.
- Find a format that works for you
