How To Read The News: A 5 Step Guide
When you feel a big feeling, stop and check yourself
Hi friends.
It’s been a year of a week. Not even a week. I’m still in New Orleans as of this writing, thanks to the historic snowstorm. Hoping to get out tonight (Thursday).
I thought it might be helpful to post a quick guide today to consuming the news. This is informed by my decades as a journalist, and my specific reporting on media literacy research.
The news! It’s terrible, and such large portions!
I do recommend taking breaks and protecting your well-being.
But I don’t recommend trying to block it out completely. Bits and pieces will leak through if you check social media, or even in the course of your daily life, and they tend to be the most upsetting bits and pieces. It’s better to remain consciously, intentionally informed on your own schedule and maintain your peace.
So what can we do?
I have a piece that came out in National Geographic this week about teaching your kids critical thinking and media literacy, (non paywalled link here). And it struck me that a lot of the research and insights from that story apply here.
If you’re a parent, you might want to model these behaviors.
First, I want to introduce you to Mike Caulfield. I was among the first journalists to report on Mike’s research for NPR back in 2017. He created the SIFT method, which has been shown, with randomized controlled trials, to help combat the spread of fake news.
SIFT stands for: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims to the original context.
But how do you know when to Stop in the first place? Caulfield tells students to stop when they hear, see, or read something that triggers a big feeling. “If something makes you angry, if it seems surprising or shocking, or on the other hand, if you see something that makes you feel very self-righteous,” he says. "Those are the things you want to check.”
That’s right, This disinformation researcher wants you to focus on your feelings. This is tip number one.
1. Check in with your feelings as you read the news. It’s really, really important in these times.
First of all, this check in might tell you when you need to take a break.
Secondly, it tells you to pause before you pass a piece of news along.
Finally, it tells you when to investigate more.
2. Ask yourself: am I reading about a real event with real consequences? Is it commentary, symbolism or speculation? Is it a pseudo-event?
As we try to navigate the world we’re in, it’s not just about discerning truth from lies. It’s about discerning real events with real consequences, from the “shit” that Steve Bannon directs Trumpworld to “flood the zone” with: imagery, inflammatory language, speculative fiction. This also includes ragebait commentary and wishcasting from the left.
Or as Daniel Boorstin very much called it in his classic 1962 book The Image: there are events and there are pseudo-events. Pseudo-events are spectacles organized by politicians and other power-holders, to advance a narrative.
For example. You may have seen that whats-his-name gave a Nazi salute at the inauguration. I agree this is very upsetting and shocking. I didn’t need to consume the endless left-wing commentary about it. This commentary is not informative. I saw what I saw. I know who these guys are. They’ve been telling us who they are for some time.
Also, Nazi is as Nazi does.
Let’s find some better coverage.
3. Learn more about events with real impacts on real people.
Of the flurry of executive orders designed to “shock and awe” us, according to Slate:
Trump’s executive orders on immigration—suspending the refugee resettlement program and attempting to end birthright citizenship—are “both unusual and potentially consequential,”[Deborah] Pearlstein said.
“This is where people need to pay attention and worry and investigate further.”
This is the Nazi shit right here. Trying to draw a new line defining who is a real American. Abandoning our commitment to help people fleeing the worst conditions in the world, under the protections of both existing immigration law and international human rights. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.
The suspension of refugee resettlement alone affects about 10,000 people, according to the Guardian. The leader of an organization in Bloomington, IN, said “a wife awaiting the arrival of her husband was losing sleep each night… the hallway of the organization’s office was lined with the car seats of children who will now not come.”
4. Look for the helpers. Then, be a helper.
Once you’ve absorbed some new terrible piece of information, the next move is to ask what is being done about it, and then, how you can help, by giving money, time, writing a email, making a phone call.
22 states, DC and San Francisco are suing to stop the birthright citizenship order, which is unconstitutional on its face . (The Western District judge has already ordered a 14 day restraining order.)
Organizations that aid immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are doing public rights education. They’re creating neighborhood watch programs to put eyes on ICE. School leaders are getting educated on dealing with inquiries from immigration enforcement.
Here is a link for information if you want to hold a Know Your Rights event for newcomers in NYC. Or just support this or a similar organization financially if you can.
You can’t do everything, give to everyone, be everywhere, but if you think of this step as part of your newsreading practice, it will help over time, I promise.
5. Focus.
No one keep up with everything that’s going on. We have to pick our battles. Set up a Google alert for keywords like “immigration” or “reproductive rights”. Be intentional about who you follow or unfollow. As a corollary, I recommend being in conversation with friends and neighbors who know about different issues and topics, and pooling your knowledge.
Refugees, migrants and newcomers are one of the issues I’m tracking because it hits me in the gut, morally, it’s part of my heritage as a Jew descended from immigrants, and I also think it’s an important indicator of the health of our democracy. Of course I’m following climate policy, and will post more about it as I learn more. And I’m following what’s happening with the media and free speech. Here’s 2 more areas where I’m paying attention:
Threats to science: suspension of grants, travel, hiring at the NIH
A bright spot: the Public Environmental Data Project has been preserving and archiving critical federal data that the Trump administration is now taking down and hiding. They are in the process of restoring public access.
A bright spot: Across education, nonprofits and for-profit companies, people are right now working to preserve diversity, equity, accessibility, inclusion and belonging goals by tying them more tightly to the missions of the organizations. At the college level, the Supreme Court’s overturning of affirmative action last year has had mixed impacts, not negative across the board.
Now I’d like to know:
What issues are you focusing on? What are you curious about?
Do you want me to keep doing link roundups and media commentary? I’m thinking of adding a regular Monday post, kind of like I did this week, that pairs important information with bright spots. It will be partly behind a paywall.
Wow, really needed this!! Thanks for this post!