I stopped following the news

News as Privilege vs. Necessity

• Several argue that “not following the news” is only viable if your identity and rights aren’t under active threat.
• Trans people, immigrants, and other minorities describe needing news to track hostile legislation, court rulings, and informal state actions, not just formal laws.
• Others push back, calling some “entire existence is political” claims hyperbolic unless facing genocide; this is strongly contested as reflecting majority privilege.

Laws, Power, and Why News Still Matters

• Reading raw laws and regulations is suggested as a cleaner alternative, but others note:
  • Many threats come from executive orders, directives, enforcement patterns, and judges’ interpretations, not just statutes.
  • By the time laws are drafted, the political window to influence them is often nearly closed.
• News (ideally) provides early warning and captures “zeitgeist” and informal power moves that don’t appear in official texts.

Mental Health, Stress, and Selective Consumption

• Many describe quitting or sharply reducing news consumption for mental health: less anxiety, anger, doomscrolling, and distraction from family and work.
• Some explicitly accept relying on friends, local conversations, or occasional summaries to surface only the most important events.
• Others insist disengagement is morally dangerous: apathy and “news fatigue” enable authoritarianism and injustice.

Being Informed vs. Consuming News

• Multiple comments distinguish “being informed” from “following the 24/7 news firehose.”
• Daily breaking news is seen as shallow, speculative, and optimized for outrage; real democratic competence requires history, context, and deep understanding.
• Proposals and practices:
  • Weekly/monthly print magazines or long-form outlets (especially financial/economic press).
  • Curated RSS, HN, Wikipedia current events, or delayed “history-like” news.
  • Home‑grown tools (RSS-to-notifications, minimalist extensions), LLM summaries, or local-only focus.

Media Economics, Bias, and Fragmentation

• Commenters note the collapse of the old broadsheet/tabloid model; online advertising pushes even “serious” outlets toward clickbait and politicized narratives.
• Some still defend professional journalism as essential watchdog function; others see mainstream news as propaganda and prefer independent or niche sources (including YouTube channels).
• Thread also debates whether tech forums should host US-political news, reflecting broader fatigue with ubiquitous politicization.