My husband loves the news. He can’t get enough of it. It doesn’t matter where it comes from or how it is delivered, my husband is here for it. ABC Newsradio, SBS World News, newspapers, magazines, random blogs, overseas news sites. He even reads books about news. There is no such thing as too much news for this man.
Me? Not so much. There is something about becoming a parent that has made me less able to suffer the burden of the world. My skin is not thick and daily news is so upsetting. News? I can’t cope with a poignant Bluey episode!
Plus, there is so much else to think about. How can I ponder and discuss the latest cabinet reshuffle? I have to make sure there are enough green apples for the school lunches (green and not red and definitely not a banana) and don’t forget dress-up day, and the chops in the fridge need to be cooked (they need to be cooked or they need to be frozen, but they can’t stay in the fridge), and Harry needs to choose a Confirmation saint and you haven’t sent an RSVP yet for that birthday party at the trampoline emporium, and READER COVERS. Both twins need their READER COVERS SIGNED.
Does this make me a bad feminist? Does this make me a mindless follower or some variety of ‘sheeple’? ‘Sheeperson’? I know I mustn’t let this domestic stuff consume me. I need to be an informed citizen of the world. I need to hold our politicians to account. I need to defend democracy and stand up for the rights of those whose voices have been stifled. I need to watch the news. But the news stresses me out. There is war and disaster and Eurovision spoilers. There is only so much news I can take. And it is everywhere, all of the time. You can’t escape it. It would be better if I could take a once-daily dose of news – or maybe once-weekly? And make it specially tailored, just for me. I want only cheerful news and nothing that makes me angry. Only opinions that I agree with. Comfort news.
Yeah, OK. I can hear what you’re saying. I get it. I studied Orwell at school too. Comfort news is not news. Comfort news won’t do.
So I guess what I need is a dose of news that isn’t just an echo of my own opinions. It needs to be fair and impartial. It needs to be a good balance of local, national and global stories. There needs to be quality investigative reporting. There needs to be rigorous fact-checking. And some background briefing and analysis would be really great too.
Now if I can just get someone to deliver this to me as a series of memes, I’ll be all set.