Article By article -- How we Can Make Hard News Easier to Bear
Cole Spencer
Seeing depressing and alarming headlines all over the place causes anxiety and bad moods. The constant display of major conflicts and exaggerated situations is quite common in daily news, When people see them all the time, it can greatly affect one’s well being. On the other side of the news spectrum, good news can affect people, too. Positive news makes people happier and can help weigh out relatively pessimistic and depressing news headlines. Lots of empty space is filled up with small reminders of violence or hate within smaller communities. The news has lots of room for happier events, and could be a lot more positive than it is now. Article by article, news stations can start to highlight happier news to help people up after they’ve read and thought about the grim issues in our world today. News stations should make positive and unbiased news columns because negative news, or news that can negatively affect people, increases anxiety.
It is a proven and tested fact that bad news indeed affects one’s mood. It can actually be harmful to absorb extreme amounts of negative headlines, such as the plethora of woeing stories we have today. Several surveys have reported that more than half of Americans feel anxious after reading negative news. Many scientists connect the results of this type of anxiety to sleep loss and increased stress. The professor of psychology at Sussex University, Graham Davey, mentions the news is “increasingly visual and shocking,” and adds that many audio and visual clips also boost anxiety and stress. Stress affects not only productivity and emotions, but physical well being as well. . Certain hormones related to stress can actually increase the risk of specific arthritis, and in extreme cases, can boost the chance of cardiovascular diseases. Looking at such dismal headlines every day in the news can be very negative to one’s health, and it’s almost inevitable to avoid seeing them.
Seeing bad news is almost unavoidable.. Although it may seem easy to just overlook certain articles in the news, it is actually an evolutionary function that prevents this from being such a simple task. This is called the “negativity bias.” Back when humans had to fight animals and scavenge through the woods for food, our brains needed this behavior to keep us safe. Humans needed to assume the worst out of situations to keep themselves out of danger. So if they heard rustling in bushes while they were vulnerable, to assume it is a threat rather than not and run away is a perfectly sensible conclusion. Whereas today, in the safety of our homes, assuming the worst is not as relevant. Our brains are evolutionarily attracted to find the worst in different situations. So, when one looks over the news, we are naturally attracted to the bad news on the page. It’s hard-wired into the brain to seek the worst outcome, even in the comfort of shelter. When someone looks at the news, the worst and most negative headlines are the ones that catch their eye first. Our brain simply reacts faster to the most possibly harmful news. And when it comes to bad news, much of this psychology makes situations worse than they actually are, even if the story is fictitious.
Fixing this problem of depressing news can be solved in several ways. A very simple and relatively easy solution is to make a column for non-biased positive news. Not getting rid of headlines, but simply making more space. News stations can fill up the small, lesser reports with a section of purely positive news. This would be able to help rule out sadder news, and also take away from the allotment of grim headlines. Some may raise this type of point: “Isn’t it the news’s job to share bad news?”. This is a very good point. It is often brought up that the news’ job is to publicize bad news, because that’s what we need to be aware of. But the purpose of this column is not to eradicate bad news;only add a space with happier and more encouraging news. Another thought about this solution is an issue of this encouraging some sort of fictitious perception of the state of the world. Although a valid and educated point of view, the media is currently doing the polar opposite of what one may explain. If a person is concerned about creating a false reality, they don’t have to. It’s already happened. With all of the sad and angering reports and stories, we are also creating some sort of imaginary perspective of the truth. Whereas this observation is creating a perfect fantasy, ours is doing the opposite. People continue to absorb such negative news headlines and begin to assume the worst of the world. This is recreating the opposite false fantasy people may bring up. People already are in a fantasy of the seemingly doomed and loathsome world, supported by the continuous flow of depressing narratives endorsed by the news. By creating this positive news, we’d actually put things back into perspective rather than distorting it. The happy notifications will help people understand that there is definitely still happiness in our world. These short and small articles will help to cope with the small percentage of truthful, bitter news. So instead of worsening our mindset, if this was put into action, it would greatly improve it.
This specific news column is not intended in any way to censor or dampen the important news everybody needs to know. Seeing the things going on in our word is vital to be aware of. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t depressing or hard to look at. This news column would be some sort of encouragement or bit of hope. It would help to aid one’s mind after viewing the state of our world’s worst issues. People tend to get caught up in negativity and forget about what good we still have in the world. For example, after one has browsed through the daily headlines, based on research, it is common that their mood significantly changes. This person might get caught up in their mood, and can get anxiety from it. So, by creating a few articles on happy news, the person will be able to recognize the positivity we have around us. Even a small bit of optimism can easily change a state of mind that was previously gloomy. If news stations decide to build on happier news, websites and newspapers can eventually accumulate a positive news section. This column would not be meant to replace news, but it’d simply act as some sort of alternative resource. This would be a column that everybody could access easily when they feel troubled after their reading. This can significantly improve a mood and help regulate the important but often saddening news.
In summary, people do not benefit from viewing such dismal headlines every day. Although much of the news is important to view, this negativity can harm people in other ways than just a mindset. Adding to the already grim reports, it is a survival skill to be able to assume the worst of situations. With all of the bad news there is today, it is almost impossible to look past the negative stories; we needed to be able to assume the worst of situations for safety. But with our protection we have today, this psychology is irrelevant and almost useless. But there is a solution to the downward spiral of sorrowful news. By creating a section for only positive and non-biased news, they can improve people’s days. The articles can inform them of the incredible feats people achieve for our world. This news section can recover happier emotions and improve moods. It can improve a negative mindset. These snippets of good news will also lessen the abundance of bad news, decreasing the amount of unsettling headlines. So, by making this positive news section, they can greatly increase people’s mindsets, and help decrease the plethora of bad news. In all, these happier articles can be a great improvement to people’s general well being.. The news is a powerful tool; it can broadcast rich and important info to all of the public. With a practical and powerful solution, we can achieve much more than showing news -- but we can also make people happier; article by article.
