I've never been much of a TV person, so I naturally gravitate toward online news articles during times of duress and conflict. During the ISIS upheaval last fall, I read about the beheadings of journalists and opted not to view the videos. But about a week after news of the beheadings started, my Global Journalist professor asked us to watch a new documentary from VICE news about the rise of ISIS. I was amazed how much I learned by watching. So, while I think it can be jarring and difficult to watch conflict either on TV or in online videos, I think that it's always going to be beneficial to strive for a moderation of words, pictures and video. The key is moderation and variety.
Without moderation, coverage of crises can quickly sap a person's energy and leave them more pessimistic. I am reminded of this reality constantly by my Nana who watches broadcast all day long and thinks the world is going to hell in a hand basket. She lives in fear for me and others in my family because she doesn't temper her broadcast viewing with long-form nonfiction writing from the New York Times, etc. I try to remind her that we live in one of the most peaceful times in human history, but she can't comprehend what I'm saying because she sees the blasts, the wars and the catastrophe.
So, I guess what I tell myself when I'm reading or viewing tragedy is that it's important to keep it in context, look at the big picture and if it becomes too much, to take a break. After some especially disturbing coverage of ISIS, I noticed that I was having nightmares more often. I did yoga and I consumed fewer ISIS coverage. I read op-eds and the Daily Show and remembered to laugh. I think it's easy to get caught up in the coverage, especially as a journalist, but like Amanda Ripley cautioned, tunnel-vision can be deadly. It's crucial to take a step back and look at the big picture.
I am newer to Twitter, so I'm not sure I've experienced the Twitter echo chamber before. I believe it's what happens when people just keep saying the same thing about a topic and no one brings a fresh perspective. Again, I think the key to this issue is to step back, take a wider look and explore the wider landscape.
Moving across fault lines is a great way to escape this narrowness. A small example would be when I Skype with my Turkmen students. I always like to ask them their take on situations. I spoke with one student named Bahar (Spring) earlier this morning. She studies in Minsk, Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, so I asked her what people there are saying about the conflict in eastern Ukraine. I was surprised to hear that people in Minsk don't really talk about it. Belarus has a tightly controlled media and is ruled by an authoritarian government, so she said discussions about politics are not common. Her wording was that it's "very tight here." This is fascinating. So different from our 24/7 CNN coverage. Anyway, conversations like these help me take a wider view of the world and give me things to chew on when I'm pondering the whys and the hows.
Without moderation, coverage of crises can quickly sap a person's energy and leave them more pessimistic. I am reminded of this reality constantly by my Nana who watches broadcast all day long and thinks the world is going to hell in a hand basket. She lives in fear for me and others in my family because she doesn't temper her broadcast viewing with long-form nonfiction writing from the New York Times, etc. I try to remind her that we live in one of the most peaceful times in human history, but she can't comprehend what I'm saying because she sees the blasts, the wars and the catastrophe.
So, I guess what I tell myself when I'm reading or viewing tragedy is that it's important to keep it in context, look at the big picture and if it becomes too much, to take a break. After some especially disturbing coverage of ISIS, I noticed that I was having nightmares more often. I did yoga and I consumed fewer ISIS coverage. I read op-eds and the Daily Show and remembered to laugh. I think it's easy to get caught up in the coverage, especially as a journalist, but like Amanda Ripley cautioned, tunnel-vision can be deadly. It's crucial to take a step back and look at the big picture.
I am newer to Twitter, so I'm not sure I've experienced the Twitter echo chamber before. I believe it's what happens when people just keep saying the same thing about a topic and no one brings a fresh perspective. Again, I think the key to this issue is to step back, take a wider look and explore the wider landscape.
Moving across fault lines is a great way to escape this narrowness. A small example would be when I Skype with my Turkmen students. I always like to ask them their take on situations. I spoke with one student named Bahar (Spring) earlier this morning. She studies in Minsk, Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, so I asked her what people there are saying about the conflict in eastern Ukraine. I was surprised to hear that people in Minsk don't really talk about it. Belarus has a tightly controlled media and is ruled by an authoritarian government, so she said discussions about politics are not common. Her wording was that it's "very tight here." This is fascinating. So different from our 24/7 CNN coverage. Anyway, conversations like these help me take a wider view of the world and give me things to chew on when I'm pondering the whys and the hows.
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