{"id":541630,"date":"2026-03-24T04:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/541630\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T04:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:09:15","slug":"op-ed-what-to-do-when-everything-is-breaking-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/541630\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-ed: What to do when everything is \u2018breaking news\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve looked at the news lately, you\u2019ve probably found yourself exhausted by headlines, several of which seem better fit to come from The Onion<\/a> or the plot of a \u201cSaturday Night Live<\/a>\u201d skit<\/a> rather than The New York Times or The Washington Post. Sometimes the only thing you can do in the moment is laugh, dreading when reality finally settles in and you\u2019re left feeling sick. That routine, day in and day out, is beyond exhausting, and it can feel like there\u2019s no escape.<\/p>\n

While \u201cbreaking news\u201d is technically<\/a> a term for \u201cdeveloping news,\u201d it has also become a way to say \u201cthis is a huge deal.\u201d So, when everything feels like \u201cbreaking news,\u201d how do we find the balance of staying informed? How do we stay away from the extremes of information addiction<\/a> and willful ignorance<\/a>? Is it even possible to walk the line between the two worlds?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think that there\u2019s a way, but it\u2019s a hard balance to find.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s okay to take a step back from the news, but it\u2019s not okay to turn away entirely. Saying you\u2019re \u201capolitical<\/a>\u201d doesn\u2019t make you sound intellectual or revolutionary. What you\u2019re really communicating is that you\u2019re privileged and unaffected by the current state of the world \u2014 and at the heart of it all, you\u2019re lazy. There\u2019s a difference between not having the time and not having the care. Shutting down all politics-related talk or refusing to engage in conversations about current affairs isn\u2019t a solution, it\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s okay to admit you didn\u2019t hear about something happening or that you don\u2019t have enough information to form an opinion about something. In fact, you should admit when you don\u2019t know enough to form a \u201cproper take\u201d on an issue, or just don\u2019t care enough to. When people think that they know more than they do, we get people like Ezra Klein<\/a>. People who are passive-aggressive but tiptoe around any sort of conflict or argumentation while insisting bigots were \u201cpracticing politics the right way<\/a>.\u201d They rarely sound like they actually know what they\u2019re talking about to the extent they need to.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, news addiction<\/a> \u2014 a subset of internet addiction disorder \u2014 is a real threat. Compulsively consuming news not only leads to information overload, but it can lead to mental spirals, especially when the news gets as bad as it is right now. The news can soon take over your life, affecting your sleep, focus and ability to function. When information only causes you upset, you can\u2019t learn from it in a productive way \u2014 and what started as staying informed turns harmful.<\/p>\n

Being intentional about your news consumption is the best route to take. Avoid clickbait and sensationalization to the best of your ability, and keep ethical standards in mind. Even if you only get your news from a handful of sources, make sure they\u2019re balanced<\/a>. Get your news outside of social media. While more difficult to find nowadays, reading the news in print compared to online helps dodge the compulsions to click on every link you see.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to be mindful about the news you share with others and how you do it. While it might seem like a good way to bring attention to an issue \u2014 and the front lines are an important perspective for people to see \u2014 when videos of war and political violence<\/a> populate the Instagram \u201cFor You\u201d page, it can lead to desensitization<\/a>. It\u2019s better to contextualize and explain these types of videos rather than only trying to shock your audience. There are ways to spread awareness that don\u2019t involve turning the suffering of others into content, which exploits the victims as well as pushing people away from the subject entirely because they don\u2019t want to see this kind of content.<\/p>\n

As for my own balance, I get The New York Times\u2019 Morning Briefing<\/a> and The Evening<\/a>, plus breaking news notifications. I follow a few news outlets on Instagram and sometimes repost news to my story. I balance my time online and offline the best I can, and I make sure to treat myself to little things that make me happy. I\u2019ve started to go back to hobbies and do things I enjoy, trading the time I used to spend in a headline-induced panic for something that I like doing.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s news landscape, we can\u2019t afford for people to burn out and disconnect. We need to stay healthily engaged and informed with world, national and local news. Know how your communities and those of your loved ones are being affected, and show up for causes you care about. Talk with your friends and make a support system. Reach out to hotlines and therapy or counseling services if you need them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take the day off if you must, but remember to check back in tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Antaine Anhalt is a second-year communication studies major. He can be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you would like to submit a letter<\/a> to the editor in response to this piece, email [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> with your idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve looked at the news lately, you\u2019ve probably found yourself exhausted by headlines, several of which seem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-541630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}