Depressing News

The news seems negative, bad and depressing. All the time. When people are continually hit with negative/critical news about the government and the economy, they feel angry. At politicians. At business heads. The never-ending negative news on social matters leads to feelings of anger and sadness.

 

Pranay Kotasthane’s view on the matter is interesting. Since most of us consume our information online, he tells us the problem is aggravated:

“Given how the Information Age operates, you will most likely find another instance of a similar kind in quick succession. Soon enough, you have concluded that the social problem is worsening, humans are becoming more evil, ruthless, and so on.”

 

Kotasthane doesn’t go into a rant against social media. Instead, he reminds one of a counterintuitive point:

“Increase in reporting of a social evil is not the same as increase in the prevalence of that social evil. Most likely, it’s the reverse for two reasons.”

 

First, the media (social or traditional) wants to grab your attention. The unusual and unexpected help with that, not common events. This means:

“The informational value of an event is inversely proportional to its probability of occurrence.”

If/when that kind of news starts to become common, the media switches to the next rare thing which can grab our attention.

 

Second, the “moral arc” keeps changing. An example helps understand:

“Two hundred and fifty years ago, no newspaper in the United States would have reported derisively that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves… because the practice of slaveholding among the wealthy was so commonplace that it wasn't considered newsworthy.”

Cut to present day:

“Any hint of forced labor or human rights violations would make front-page news. This shift in reporting doesn't mean that slavery has become more prevalent – quite the opposite. It's precisely because such practices are now rare and universally condemned that they warrant extensive coverage.”

 

Therefore, his takeaway:

“Understanding this inverse relationship is crucial for maintaining our sanity and optimism in the face of seemingly endless negative news. It doesn't mean we should ignore social problems or assume that things are necessarily getting better. (Instead) we can better contextualise the information we receive and avoid falling into the trap of pessimism.”

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