Why are we so addicted to the news media, especially when it’s bad? What does it do to read about so much negativity all the time? How do we detach for our own peace of mind? Find out in this week’s episode.

Music from the Episode: "Sour Grapes" by Larissa Seay Dashjian (under the moniker The 8th House).

https://www.musicglue.com/the8thhouse/shop

References

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Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of general psychology, 5(4), 323-370.

Bodas, M., Siman-Tov, M., Peleg, K., & Solomon, Z. (2015). Anxiety-inducing media: The effect of constant news broadcasting on the well-being of Israeli television viewers. Psychiatry, 78(3), 265-276.

Boukes, M., & Vliegenthart, R. (2017). News consumption and its unpleasant side effect. Journal of Media Psychology, 29(3), 137-147.

de Hoog, N., & Verboon, P. (2020). Is the news making us unhappy? The influence of daily news exposure on emotional states. British Journal of Psychology, 111(2), 157-173.

Leetaru, K. (2011). Culturomics 2.0: Forecasting large-scale human behavior using global news media tone in time and space. First Monday.

McIntyre, K. E., & Gibson, R. (2016). Positive news makes readers feel good: A “silver-lining”

approach to negative news can attract audiences. Southern Communication Journal, 81, 304–

315. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2016.1171892

Trussler, M., & Soroka, S. (2014). Consumer demand for cynical and negative news frames. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 19(3), 360-379.