How Important Is Live Breaking News In Our Lives?

On the face of it, most people do not consider the local newspaper to be their main source of local information. For example, when asked “If your local newspaper ceased to exist, would it have a major, minor, or no impact on your ability to get information and news from your local community?” The vast majority of people would agree, the demise of local newspapers had no or only minor impact on their ability to access local information. In this article, we’ll be discussing how important it is and what are the effects of live breaking news in our lives.

The importance of live breaking news

Local newspapers remain an important source of information

The reliance on newspapers for so many local topics sets it apart from all other local news sources. The internet is considered the five most relied upon sources for 16 topics, far behind newspapers in terms of widespread use and value. Among all adults, newspapers are considered sources of crime, tax, local government events, schools, local politics, local employment, community/neighborhood events, arts events, zoning information, local social services, and real estate. 

Newspapers are less important as a local source of information for adults under 40

Newspapers don’t have nearly the same appeal for adults under the age of 40. Consider this stark distinction: Among all adults, newspapers were clearly the leading source for seven local topics (and tied with the Internet as the leading source for the other four). However, among adults under 40, newspapers were clearly the number one topic for one topic, another topic related to taxes and TV news was a crime and four other topic areas related to the Internet.

The effects of live breaking news

Negativity bias

One potential reason why news affects us so much is so-called “negativity bias”, a well-known psychological quirk that means we pay more attention to all the worst things that happen around us. It’s thought to have evolved to protect us from danger, and helps explain why a person’s shortcomings are often more apparent than their assets, why losses outweigh gains, and why fear motivates us more than chance. The government even incorporates it into its policies, torn between offering positive or negative incentives for the public, the latter more likely to work. 

The impact of news is somewhat of a psychological mystery, as most news doesn’t actually affect us directly, if at all. When it happens, several studies have found that news coverage may be worse for our mental health than reality. Even when reporting on an already traumatic event, news channels often cannot resist adding extra pressure. Negative news also has the power to raise a person’s heart rate, and there are worrying signs that it could have a more serious impact on our long-term health.

So the next time you find yourself checking the headlines for the hundredth time of the day, or anxiously scrolling through your social media feeds, remember: news can affect you more than you expected.

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Christophe Rude
Christophe Rude
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