As a child in the 80s and 90s it was a matter of prestige and pride
To be up-to-date on current affairs worldwide
To reading the newspaper daily, there was a snob value
Learning about conflicts, regime changes and disasters was the smart thing to do
The 24 hour news cycle was not yet the norm
The newspaper was the parent-approved way to get informed
*
I remember struggling to keep myself up-to-date on the news
I would read a novel over the newspaper whenever I could choose
I supplemented my knowledge by watching news on TV
But understanding the world I never did fond easy
*
Habits drilled into your mind as a child are notoriously hard to break
So I check out news on my device every day, as soon as I am awake
The fear of appearing ignorant has never left me
And that is why I read the news compulsively
*
Thd world has changed, the journalistic excellence found
In the newspapers of my childhood is nowhere to be seen around
News is accessible everywhere, twenty-four hours a day
Plenty of mediocre and substandard reporting has found its way
On every platform, the content is obfuscated
By clever social media algorithms, to keep you click-baited
The more news you consume, the more you get confined
To your echo chamber, through which your priorities are defined
*
To read every important piece of news I once aspired
To break the habit of reading daily news is my current desire
Passion...unbridled 
It is nuts. First there is the news. Then pictures. Then an opinion. Then some commentator and his take on that particular news. In the meantime, I have been sucked in and wasted time and my head feels like it could explode. I have been serious about skipping over so much. My sanity requires that.
LikeLike
Agree- it is less important to know the latest news than to preserve your sanity- so different from my childhood where newspapers epitomized journalistic excellence and good writing.
LikeLiked by 1 person