I’m a news junkie. Every day, I watch several hours of news coverage on TV, mostly programmes on CNN and the BBC. I get up at 4:00 AM and watch the news until the sun starts to rise. Then I take my dogs for a walk.
When I get home, I turn on the computer, and read articles about current affairs online for about an hour. I read The Guardian, and articles on the CNN and BBC websites; I read articles on websites like Associated Press News, Los Angeles Times, Ukrainska Pravda, The Kyiv Independent, ORF.at, smerconish.com, and CBC News. Occasionally, I even buy printed newspapers and magazines, like Der Standard or profil.
At around 9:00 AM, I finally start my day and get to work. I watch more news throughout the day.
On Sundays, when there are fewer news programmes on TV, and fewer articles are published online, I get withdrawal symptoms. I feel irritated, antsy, off-kilter.
But we’re living in ugly times: Russia’s war on Ukraine, Hamas’s war on Israel, the collapse of the rule of law and the demise of democracy in the United States of America; civil war in Sudan; the Taliban in Afghanistan making life hell for girls and women; terrorist attacks and mass shootings in churches, and schools, and at Christmas markets…
The Geneva Academy tracks armed conflicts around the world; it currently tracks more than 110 wars and armed conflicts: approximately 45 armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, appr. 35 in Africa, 21 in Asia, six in Latin America, seven in Europe.
And don’t even get me started on the climate apocalypse (it’s really much too late to call it climate “change”)!
So, bad news all around, the state of the world is utterly depressing, which is why I’ve decided to take a short break. No news for eight days, from Sunday to Sunday, October 5-12, 2025.
Eight days might seem a very short time for some people. But I can’t even fathom not watching the news for eight days or not reading news coverage online for 192 hours. How do people do it? And what will the world look like in eight days?
Clearly, I need an intervention….
It’ll be an interesting experiment for sure. Luckily, I own a lot of DVDs and VHS tapes (yes, I’m that old). Maybe I’ll watch every single episode of Friends, or of Keeping Up Appearances, or of Northern Exposure. I think it’s time for some good old-fashioned binge-watching of a different kind…comedies!