The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, devastating forest fires, the many deaths from corona, rising energy prices: there are people who can cope well with the flood of negative news that they are exposed to from morning to night. For others, problematic news consumption can be associated with physical and mental illnesses. This is the result of researchers led by Bryan Mclaughlin from Texas Tech University in the specialist journal “Health Communication”. For the study, the team evaluated an online survey of 1,100 adults in the United States. The participants were asked about their media consumption, so they were asked, among other things, to what extent statements such as “I am so engrossed in the news that I forget the world around me” apply to them. They should also answer how often they experience feelings of stress or anxiety or whether they suffer from physical complaints such as tiredness, lack of concentration or gastrointestinal problems. The researchers describe problematic news consumption using various criteria: those affected check news uncontrollably, find it difficult to break away from it, or even later think a lot about what they have read and are on a high alert. The world often seems to her “like a dark and dangerous place,” said Bryan McLaughlin.
The results showed that 16.5 percent of respondents showed signs of “very problematic news consumption.” According to the analysis, they had mental or physical illnesses noticeably more often. Sufferers reported that messages dominated their own thoughts. Spending time with friends and family would be disrupted by consumption. They also reported having trouble concentrating on school or work, with some reporting restlessness and trouble sleeping.
Whether news consumption is the cause of the problems – or whether people with health problems tend to obsessive news consumption – needs to be clarified in further work. According to Nora Walter, Professor of Business Psychology at the FOM University of Economics and Management, the fact that people are more likely to click on bad news is due to evolution. “We click on disaster headlines to look for information that will protect us from a possible threat,” Walter told the German Press Agency. “But if you’re constantly surrounding yourself with negative news, there’s a risk that at some point you won’t be able to think positive thoughts anymore.”
Through the Internet, media users are confronted with a limitless flood of news at all times. “On social media there is always new information, a new post, a new video. You scroll and scroll,” says Walter. “It’s difficult to say: ‘Now I’ll stop and do something else.’ If you feel affected by your news consumption, you can get it under control again. One strategy: limit yourself to a certain number of articles per day, explains the psychologist, who was not involved in the study. “Or you limit yourself in time and take half an hour to read, for example. As soon as the alarm clock rings, you stop.”
The US researchers also advocate not switching off the news completely – but finding a healthy way of dealing with it. Media literacy campaigns, for example in schools, could help. However, the team sees responsibility not only with the news consumers themselves, but also with the media industry. Economic pressures in the media industry, coupled with technological advances and a 24-hour news cycle, would tempt journalists to focus on attention-grabbing stories, McLaughlin said. This leads to a vicious circle: people tend to consume this type of “sensational news” more. The media produces more of it. According to the researcher, this development not only endangers democracy, “but can also be harmful to the health of the individual”.
