Keeping up with the news is important to me and, without wanting to sound pompous, I feel it is my duty as a citizen in a democracy. But staying informed no longer means simply reading a paper in the morning – news punctuates my day. I do some work, then it’s: hey, BBC News app, what’s happening out there in the big wide world? ‘Cuts to public services’; ‘Five killed in disaster’…
Gosh really? That’s awful, I need to find out more… And then I’m heading down the rabbit hole, looking at other news sites and Twitter. As well as being a drain on my time, I know it’s a drain on my energy. ‘Government crisis’; ‘Terror threat’ – there’s adrenaline in those headlines and a buzz that pulls me in, but I know it drags me down too. Happy stories don’t make strong headlines, which means I am being deluged with bad news, and it can be overwhelming.
Full to bursting