How Bad News is Making Us Angry

In the news business it’s often been said there’s too much bad news in the news.

That common saying about drivers always slowing down to see an accident, looky-loos they’re sometimes called, driving decisions by people in the news business to do news that’s bad news. Many years ago, some TV news consultants even would say if it bleeds it leads.

Things have changed since those days, but these days, there seems to even more bad news than usual. And there are signs all the bad news is driving some people away from the news because it can become depressing and help make people depressed.

Of course, when it comes to getting the news in today’s world, social media is now the source of most news for a lot of people who don’t watch the TV news or read a newspaper every morning.

And you might argue that is good for their mental well-being. But you can also argue that getting all your news from social media can not only still get you depressed, but also make you cynical and even angry.

There is a lot of anger on social media every day. So much so it can seem as if everyone is angry about something, with many fighting with each other. And that anger on social media sometimes spills out in public as we’ve seen at school board meetings around the country lately and we saw this week at the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting.

While there will always be bad news, it doesn’t mean we have to be so bad toward each other. And we all should remember that Biblical advice about doing all you can to live at peace with one another.

(Photo Getty Images)