In light of current events around the globe, it has become increasing hard to remain positive. Not a day passes without bad news from our neighbouring countries or disastrous updates on the state of the planet. Sometimes, I find myself stepping away from the news all together. However, this is not the most proactive thing to do.
It has always been of great importance to be aware of global civic and climate based issues. The question is: how can you stay updated on the daily news without losing hope? The first thing is maybe don’t check the news daily. It’s okay to put your phone down and take a break from the world. In fact, it’s probably for the best.
However, if you’d like to stay in the loop on a daily basis, I suggest watching late night hosts’ such as: Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, John Oliver and Seth Myers. These men use their monologues to discuss the problems associated with the American Republican Party, as well as other world news. By incorporating humour, each host makes the pill that is the daily news a lot easier to swallow. I highly recommend this to anyone with a good sense of humour and access to Wi-Fi, because although these shows air weeknights on TV you can also find them on YouTube.
If you find yourself wanting to step away from the news all together but somehow stay up to date, life writing and biography novels from the perspective of those involved in current issues are perfect for you. One example is the many women from the Me Too movement that have told their stories through these types of novels, allowing for their voices to be heard as they speak out against men in power. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s novel She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement tells the story of how two female reporters fought to break the story about Harvey Weinstein. Know my Name: A Memoir is about the author Chanel Miller’s experiences with taking sexual assault charges to the supreme court.
By reading novel’s such as these (which there are many more of) you will be able to stay socially aware of these current issues while also educating yourself on the systematic oppression of female voices. Yes, no matter how you receive these stories they are hard to hear, but we need to hear them, and we need to hear them from the perspective of the women involved. Too often are their voices drowned out by the 24-hour news cycle, or even the articles they’re written into.
Social media is a whole other monster. The best advice here would be to delete your accounts all together, but if you’re like me and still love Twitter in 2020, there are ways to make this a more positive space too! Accounts such the NRDC and EPA keep their followers up to date on climate issues, but take it from me, if these are the only climate accounts you follow you’ll be convinced we’ll all be underwater next week. Organizations such as 4Ocean, World Wild Life Fund and Green Peace each run social media accounts that will give you daily updates on the positive conservation work being done around the world. Even accounts like Gorilla Doctors, which has daily updates on the medical care given to Gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo might help you to restore your hope for betterment of our environment.
These accounts also provide their followers with realistic ways they can contribute to the fight against climate change, relieving that feeling of helplessness. Each account can also be found on Instagram, if that’s your social media of choice, and much like the novels spoken of before – there are many more accounts where these came from. The decision to follow more positive voices on your social media can be made not only on the topic of climate change but towards the advocating voices of people within minority and LGBTQ + communities as well. Direct your attention towards the people making progressive changes – and you will find your mindset and overall outlook will become a more positive one.
Staying positive in 2020 is not always easy, but turning to media outlets that promote hope or change will help contribute to a better overall outlook on world news. Use these tips, and try to focus on the good in the world – there is plenty.