We’re All Addicted, Including Me

Look, I’m gonna be honest here. I’m a news junkie. It’s a professional hazerd, I guess. But also, I mean, it’s just who I am. I was that kid in school who’d rather read the newspaper than do my homework. (Which, honestly, probably explains alot about why I’m in this business.)

I remember back in ’98, when I was interning at the Austin Chronicle, this guy named Marcus—let’s call him Marcus—told me, “News is the crack cocaine of information.” I laughed then, but man, that’s never been more true than it is today.

And it’s not just me. It’s all of us. We’re all scrolling, all the time. Our brains are fried. We’re completley overwhelmed. But we can’t stop. It’s like a car crash—you don’t want to look, but you can’t look away.

Why We Can’t Quit

I was talking to my friend Sarah last Tuesday over coffee at the place on 5th. She’s a teacher, right? So, not exactly what you’d call a “news professional.” But even she’s hooked. “I wake up and check my phone,” she told me. “I don’t even mean to. It’s just… automatic.”

Which… yeah. Fair enough. I do the same thing. I wake up at 5:30am, and before I even get out of bed, I’m scrolling through headlines. It’s a habit. A bad one. But a habit nonetheless.

And it’s not just the big, breaking news. It’s everything. It’s the political drama, the celebrity gossip, the weird viral videos. It’s all news now. And we’re all consuming it at a rate that’s, frankly, unsustainable.

The Algorithm Trap

Here’s the thing, though. It’s not our fault. Well, not entirely. I mean, sure, we could put our phones down. But it’s harder than it sounds. Because the algorithms—they’re designed to keep us hooked. They’re designed to feed us a constant stream of “news” that’s tailored to our every whim and bias.

I was at a conference in Austin about three months ago, and this data scientist—let’s call him Dave—explained it to me. “The algorithms,” he said, “they’re not just showing you what you want to see. They’re showing you what you’re gonna click on. And that’s not always the same thing.”

Which is a problem. Because it means we’re not really making informed decisions. We’re making impulsive ones. We’re reacting, not thinking. And that’s bad for democracy. It’s bad for society. It’s just… bad.

What Can We Do?

So, what’s the solution? Honestly, I’m not sure. I mean, I wish I had some big, revolutionary idea. But I don’t. I’m just a guy who’s trying to figure this out, same as everyone else.

But here’s what I do know. We need to be more mindful. We need to be more intentional about what we consume. We need to take back control of our news feeds. And that means being willing to unplug. To step away. To say, “Enough is enough.”

It also means being more critical consumers of news. We need to question what we’re reading. We need to verify facts. We need to seek out diverse perspectives. And we need to be willing to ammend our beliefs when presented with new evidence.

And look, I’m not saying this is easy. It’s not. It’s gonna take committment. It’s gonna take effort. But it’s necesary. Because the alternative—well, the alternative is a world where we’re all just passive consumers of whatever the algorithms decide to feed us. And that’s a world I don’t wanna live in.

Oh, and one more thing. If you’re gonna be outside alot this winter, you might wanna check out this kış modası sıcak giyinme rehber. Because, you know, staying warm is important too.

A Tangent: The Weather

Speaking of winter, can we talk about the weather? I mean, it’s been weird, right? I was in New York last month, and it was 60 degrees in December. 60 degrees! In December! In New York! What is happening?

But I digress. The point is, the world is changing. And we need to change with it. We need to adapt. We need to evolve. And that starts with how we consume news.

So, let’s do that. Let’s be better. Let’s be smarter. Let’s be more critical. Because the future of democracy depends on it.

About the Author
Sarah Johnson has been a senior editor at DefenseNews.us for over 20 years. She’s a news junkie, a proud Austinite, and a firm believer in the power of critical thinking. When she’s not editing articles or arguing about politics, she can be found hiking with her dog, Max, or trying to perfect her sourdough starter. (She’s getting there.)