The 24 hour news cycle can have a curious impact. On the one hand, knowing what is happening in the world can become a daily compulsion – news outlets have designed their tech around the addictive nature of receiving new pieces of information every few minutes. On the other hand, the saturation of bad news – much of which is on repeat in the top headlines throughout the day – can be downright depressing.

It can be tempting to switch off from all news, turn off the radio and tv and cancel your subscriptions, silence the apps. But if you’re a subject matter expert who wants to appear in the media, an extended news hiatus isn’t advisable. If you want to be a go-to commentator on issues that are relevant to your industry and business, you need to know what they are, and if you want to jump on the back of a news story and create some reactive content, there is a small window of time in which you can do this. The quicker you’re onto it, the better. We want our experts to be across their industry news and what is hitting mainstream news, it’s the foundation of what we do.

So, what can you do if you find the news depressing, but need to access it in order to maintain your media engagement? Don’t switch off and head for the rock just yet, consider one of the following approaches to consuming media in a different way.

Use a news aggregator – instead of scrolling multiple websites and reading the same headlines over and over, consider signing up to a news aggregator that will put together stories from your favourite news outlets.

Set a time for when you read/listen to/watch the news – Just because the news is rolling 24 hours a day, you don’t need to be listening. Tap in and out when you’re in the mood, think about the times of day when it is the best time for you to listen to/read/access the news and stick to that window. A big news story that is relevant to you can break at any moment but that doesn’t mean you need to be constantly tuned in. Going through the headlines in the morning is a good way to stay in touch with what is happening, and if a ground breaking story that impacts your industry breaks, we’ll most likely be in touch asking if you’d like to comment.

Follow some news outlets on socials – Instead of going the traditional route – tv, radio and print/digital – why not try following a couple of news outlets on your socials. It can be a gentle way of making sure you’re tapping into the news at some point in your day.

Offset the negative with good news – the news doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. As well as sourcing information from your mainstream news go-to outlets – also most likely to be serving up some challenging stories ‑ follow some good news outlets like the Good News Network.

Listen to talk back, over 24 hour programs – you don’t have to listen to the hardest news bulletins to stay on top of what’s trending. Instead of tuning in to 24 hour news networks and radio, try listening to talk-back or turning breakfast tv on in the background.

By Emily Morgan, Media Engagement Manager, Media Stable