A clearer mind starts here
Every day we’re bombarded with headlines designed to provoke and entertain, not to explain or inform. The news distorts reality, fuels outrage, drains our attention, and quietly affects our mood and mental health.
Based on the Swedish book Skippa nyheterna, the ideas here are for anyone who wants to feel calmer, understand the world better, think more clearly, and live more intentionally in a world of constant updates.
Why skip the news?
News gives you the illusion of knowledge
The world is better than the headlines suggest
News creates anxiety and distraction
You can stay informed without it
Youtube videos from TEDx Stockholm and Skip The News
“If more people did like Tobias and stopped following the news—or at least approached it with emotional distance—the world would likely be a better place.”
Posts
Why the news only shows you a slice of reality
The way we understand the world is shaped not just by what we see—but by what we’re shown. News media follow a specific logic for deciding what gets reported and what doesn’t. And what’s left out might be just as important as what makes the headlines. Imagine the world as a giant cake, representing everything happening right now. What do the news media report? Only three small slices of that cake: what’s happening right now, what’s...
How the media paved the way for Trump
I was sitting in the sauna after a swim, chatting with a friendly man from Nashville. After a while I dared to ask him if the United States is really as polarized as it seems. He sighed deeply and said, “You know what, it is probably worse than it looks.” He told me he had stopped seeing his own brother. Their relationship had been torn apart by politics. Party identity has moved from being quite unremarkable to becoming a non-negotiable...
Are you taking part in the media’s manufactured battles of opinion?
This text was previously published at Warp News The news presents itself as informative—but it isn’t. Its invented conflicts don’t empower us; they make us less capable of action and less truly informed. These manufactured opinion wars are fought by volunteers. You can opt out. You know the situation. Someone is making a point—maybe online, maybe in the break room, maybe even at a family gathering—and they’re clearly, wildly wrong....
DO YOU RELAX WITH THE NEWS?
We all want to feel informed and in the loop, which is why we spend so much time and attention on the news. Sometimes we engage with it in a calm and thoughtful way—but for many, it becomes more of a habit, something to pass the time. Sitting on the bus (or the toilet)? Might as well scroll through the news feed. You’re not doing anything important anyway, right? An efficient way to stay updated? The desire to stay informed is part of our...
“Are you addicted to the news? Here’s the checklist.”
Tobias Wahlqvist, author of Skip the News – why I stopped following the news and why you should too, shares a checklist for anyone wondering if they might be hooked on news consumption. When diagnosing addiction, we often look for signs like withdrawal symptoms, loss of control, and increased tolerance. News addiction may sound less dramatic, but it’s not uncommon to let news consumption spill over into other parts of life—and it does...