I don’t know about you, but I’ve found it difficult to regulate my news media diet during this strange and interesting time. And I’ve found it challenging to just get away from the news at times to rest my soul and renew my mind. I have always struggled with this, given how much of a news junkie I have always been, every since I was a kid and three newspapers arrived at the bottom of my driveway every day.
But in the middle of a pandemic, it’s even harder. For one thing, it’s hard to know how things are going. One set of news outlets seems to always lead with the bad news items and a message that things are going to keep getting worse and worse with no hope in sight. Another set of news outlets seem to go the opposite way, as if this is not a big deal. So how do we regulate our news diet and stay reasonably informed without going insane?
Here are a few things I’ve tried to do in the middle of all of this. I’d love to hear from you how you regulate your news intake:
Follow a diverse set of voices. I try to listen to a number of different types of news sources. Locally, I have found The Tennessean a reliable guide for local information. I also subscribe to some national news outlets. I have found The Dispatch, a new conservative-leaning news site, to be reliably fair and thorough. I also read the typical mainstream outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times, though I knew the narratives and perspective often skews left. I really appreciate the coverage from World Magazine. They have a team of excellent journalists, and their daily podcast, “The World and Everything In It” is really good. I’ve also found much of the coverage in National Review to be helpful. Finally, I’ve followed a few experts like data nerd Nate Silver and former FDA chairman Scott Gottlieb for sober analysis of charts and maps and data. It’s important, I think, for us to have a balanced media diet. We can too easily get swept up in our tribes and can catechized by narratives from left or right and not be able to see the truth.
Don’t Let Headlines Be Your Guide. I find headlines are often unhelpful or misleading and, at times, contradictory to the content inside news articles. Better to read articles through to the end. At times, news organizations are incentived to put out their most sensational headlines both on online articles and print headlines, but also at the bottom of their TV screen (often called a “chryon” in the news business). Be wary of jumping, posting, and reacting to headlines. As Christians, we should strive to get the whole story.
Don’t Be Afraid of Good News. There is a perverse incentive in these times to not believe good news. I don’t know if is because none of us want to be seen as minimizing the seriousness of the coronavirus or because we are convinced in our mind that things will never get better, but there are snippets of good news. I am trying to share mostly good news on my twitter feed these days, only to sort of break up the endless scrolling of doom and gloom. Now it’s important, I think, to makes sure the news is objectively good, not just wishful thinking, but let’s not be afraid to find the good, the pure, the beautiful, the true (Philippians 4:8).
Shut out the extremes. I’ve found I have to stop reading or following people who are extreme, whether it’s folks who make the direst predictions and shame people who don’t distance the way they think they should or folks who make every single piece of news political. This includes folks on left and right. It seems there is too much temptation for these folks to get key facts wrong and mislead in a way that is unhelpful.
Those are some of my news tips for processing this pandemic. What are yours? I’d love to hear feedback.
Interesting Links
Pastor Darrin Patrick passed away tragically last week. I knew Darrin a bit and appreciated both his ministry and the transparency of his restoration in the last few years. My friend Ed Stetzer has a beautiful tribute to him here for Christianity Today.
I’m watching “The Last Dance” documentary on ESPN every week. It’s everything I wanted it to be. As a child who grew up in Chicago during the height of the Chicago Bulls dynasty, this documentary is like reliving my childhood. Here is a good piece on Jordan’s short professional baseball career. I have to tell you that I think he would have been good at baseball were not it for the ‘94 strike. But I’m in the minority position.
My friend Jason Thacker is particularly adept at thinking through technology and faith. He has a great piece at TGC on the tension between privacy and safety especially as it applies to public health data.
What I’m Reading
I’ve found reading in this time has slowed dramatically for me and I don’t like it. Part of it is that I’ve filled much of that time with family time and I’m working on several projects that are taking up most of my time. That being said: I’m enjoying The President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents from Kennedy to Obama, a fascinating history of the intelligence documents that modern U.S. Presidents receive. And I’m loving Rebel in the Ranks, Martin Luther, The Reformation, and the Conflicts that Continue to Shape Our World.
Personal Projects
So my new website will be launched very soon, be looking for a completely redesigned Danieldarling.com. I also recorded four more podcasts for my special audio series with Lifeaudio.com and crosswalk.com.
And I’m working with B&H on A Way With Words, which releases in August. Pre-orders will be available soon.
This Week on The Way Home Podcast
Daniel Grothe joins me to talk about wisdom and the importance of learning from those your senior. Daniel is Associate Senior Pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Listen here.
Stay in Touch
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As always, I’d love to hear from you. Connect with me on Twitter here.