The war in Ukraine, mass shootings, Jan. 6 hearings, the overturning of Roe v. Wade. To say the least, the first half of 2022 has been eventful.
As midterm elections slowly approach, news coverage will no doubt continue, but the number of people tuning in won’t be the same. Compared to previous years, news consumption has been on the decline. It is not about the fact that political parties are more divided than ever, it’s that the day-to-day news is simply depressing.
“Americans have grown exhausted from the constant barrage of bad headlines that have replaced Trump-era crises, scandals and tweets,” Axios reports.
During Donald Trump’s presidency, there was heightened tension between individuals, and social media platforms became war zones. Now, the media are still dealing with the ramifications. The way news and social media handle politics will never go back to the pre-Trump era.
The interaction news articles get when posted on social media platforms has dropped 42%. The three major cable networks — CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC — are, on average, down by 19% in viewership compared to last year.
“The numbers suggest that news-consuming Americans have grown weary amid the 24-hour news cycle,” the Hill reports.
This is certainly not shocking — if you were to ask anyone about their thoughts on the current events that plague our nation, odds are you’ll get a shrug and a sigh or a furrowed brow. Many of these discussions are emotionally exhausting, and nowadays, people are more inclined to turn the TV off just so they can recharge. In a country where the news is constantly covering tragedy, people are diverting their attention to sports and other lighthearted media rather than hard news.
I wouldn’t blame them — even being a journalist, for whom consuming the news is a “job,” can be taxing. If you’re not careful, working in the commentary section can cause you to have a negative outlook on events you write about. Journalists are real human beings too — we have emotions and personal experiences like everyone else — we just don’t want to become mere cynics of the news we are constantly consuming.
In a Washington Post opinion piece titled “I stopped reading the news,” journalist Amanda Ripley writes about how saturated her life had become with exhausting and depressing news.
“The news crept into every crevice of life. I couldn’t avoid exposure … It was like I’d developed a gluten allergy. And here I was — a wheat farmer!” she writes.
Maybe it’s time for all journalists to take a news fast.
Seems like I am guilty of this too. Once I close my laptop for the weekend, I don’t engage with the news or current events nearly as much until Monday morning comes. It provides perspective for me, reminds me that there is more to life than the devastating stories plastered across headlines.
It’s not groundbreaking that people are sick and tired of the news. The steady decline in news consumption has been inevitable. However, instead of merely observing this phenomenon, news publications might want to rethink how they shape and present the news. There is no sure way to fix this increase of news “boycotts,” but the constant bombardment of politically infused rhetorical news will definitely not pull in an audience that is overly exhausted and depressed.
Esther Wickham is a summer 2022 Washington Examiner fellow.
