I don’t watch the news on television very often, nor do I take much interest in tabloids or pop culture gossip. I do like to be informed on important or interesting things, but not at the expense of being bombarded by “buzz” stories without value (Mr. So-and-So is in jail for whatever; Ms. Who-Cares is going to rehab) and information that is shown dependent upon the ability to keep viewers attention on their station. There are plenty of people arrested and people who commit crimes. Many things happen to everyone, so why dedicate half the day to one celebrity? And even if it is an important topic, why should that be the only topic? Repetition will eventually lead to redundancy until the viewer is numb; or if the news is more entertaining, they end up making contradicting arguments from the initial headlines.

The easiest thing to do is to ignore the news, or just give it a passing glance. Look for different ways to get the news or find somewhere that picks up stories that got swept under the rug (also be careful of conspiratorial junk). If you continue to be fed the same news, you could always ask yourself why they don’t show anything else. Don’t fuel the fire. If your criticisms are specific with names and speculations, then you too are advertising the stories. All it takes is, “We know, now what is the rest of the world up to?”