On the radio recently was an advert for NZ's national newspaper - 'The Herald'.
The slogan was: 'The New Zealand Herald, the more you know the better.'
Is that really right?
Is knowing more about the news really a good thing?
Who even decides what is news?
We've all been told that knowledge is power and there is an unwritten assumption that as global citizens we ought to keep up to date with what is going on in our world. We like to keep informed and with the increasing role of technology we have a never ending newsfeed at our fingertips.
But does this make us any happier? Are we actully better informed?
Rolf Dobelli claims the news is not good for us, in fact he describes news as 'toxic'
He claims 'News is to the mind what sugar is to the body' and in the article below outlines 15 reasons why. It is well worth reading.
He concludes that society does need journalists but rather than needing ones that feed us inconsequential trivia we need ones that really make us think. He points out that 'important findings don’t have to arrive in the form of news. Often, reporting is not time sensitive. Long journal articles and in-depth books are fine forums for investigative journalism'.
Dobelli urges his readers to turn off the news; to read other journalistic material that explores the complexity of life so we can better understand the world around us. He claims that the news is irrelevant.
Having gone 12 months without news, Dobelli invites his readers to try one week without news.
Is it time to break the news habit?
Is no news good news?
What do you think?
Read his article here: www.dobelli.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Avoid_News_Part1_TEXT.pdf
Image source
It is proposed that as Dobelli suggests we should all try giving up news for a week