Foxicity, CNNinsanity and MSNBCrazy

Daily broadcasts of rage aren't healthy or productive

Photo by Rubaitul Azad on Unsplash

Without question, the news cycle makes everyone unhappy. While it feels empowering to know that’s going on, it often produces a related, and profound, sense of powerlessness. Whether we are watching the bloody, tragic war in Ukraine or the culture war in the US, there’s little the average person can do to influence the course of events on a larger scale.

Then, the feeling of powerlessness leads to frustration, anger and sometimes despair. From what I’ve seen it also seems to produce a 24/7 sense of anxiety running as a ‘sub-program’ behind the 24/7 news cycle.

While the Internet is an endless source of non-stop bad news and click-bait, for older citizens it seems that the major networks are the go-to for daily information. And from what I have seen, this produces nothing but misery as news runs in the background all day long.

I am a conservative and I come from a conservative family. I married into a conservative family. As such, Fox News is a kind of running sound-track in the homes of many of those I love.

However, I don’t generally watch Fox News. I often agree with the thrust of their stories and I think that there have been times that they broke news stories that others wouldn’t touch (and which turned out to be relevant and true).

Nevertheless, the breathless outrage style of Fox News is something I find exhausting. But it’s equally true of CNN, MSNBC and pretty much every other major news network in existence. This is why I referred to the result of their efforts as I did in the title.

Foxicity, CNinsanity and MSNBCrazy.

Each has an agenda. Of course, it isn’t limited to their broadcast product. Their online presence is the same. All of it is likewise portable thanks to the smart-phone, so that fear, outrage, division and dissent can sit comfortably in our pockets and be pulled out anywhere, anytime to raise our blood pressures and heart rates and cause us to view the world around with endless paranoia, suspicion and distrust.

I feel the same thing for untold websites and various other print publications. But I have a particular distaste for what these influential outlets do to the mental health of senior citizens. When life slows down, when retirement arrives and there is so much more free time, it’s just all too easy for older citizens to sit in the chair, turn on the television, and soak up their daily doses of outrage.This is getting more and more personal as I keep getting offered ‘Silver Sneakers’ programs and ‘senior discounts’ at restaurants. I’m 58 years old and bumping up on senior.

However, I’m trying to be very purposeful in what sort of media I consume, in my response to it and my realistic assessment of the information conveyed. I tend to think more about the things I can influence, the people I can love, the legacy I can leave. I enjoy the books and stories that educated me and that empower me. And I see that the thing that must matter most is my faith in an eternal, loving and just God who will set all things right. And just behind that has to be my love for my wife, children, family and friends, my work and my use of the gifts I can still use while I still walk in the light.

Alternatives to consuming frightening news? Even for those retired or infirm? Read things uplifting or educational. Learn a new skill. Volunteer. Visit the sick. Write letters to those in positions of influence. Write letters to friends or to children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces or old neighbors. Write down important memories to leave behind. Write a self-published book. Record yourself relating memories or ideas that need to be passed along to the future. Go to worship services, read scriptures, pray, contemplate. Walk and enjoy and simply be. All of these are more fruitful than the news.

But what I hate, hate, hate is watching fury, rage and fear grow in the lives of people who have lived long enough to deserve enjoyment, and the fruits of genuine influence and capacity.