We're easing into Informed, Active Democratic Citizenship for 2024 and Beyond. Actions thus far: (1) reframe citizenship as a care project; (2) make a quick-and-dirty motivational script that's better than "save democracy, I guess???" Today: PLAN YOUR MEDIA INTAKE.

Hi!

I'm going to make this quick today, because I really hope you'll take a moment to drop a comment below. If we're gonna do active citizenship, we need to know what's going on around us. But not everything. NOT THE CONSTANT GODFORSAKEN POLL NUMBERS, actually.

Tl;dr: where and how do you get your news? How do you focus on just the important info and tune out the predictions, speculation, and embroidery (not to mention disinformation)?

Please share!—so we can each find something that works for us, without reinventing the wheel.

Because I'm a nerd, sometimes I read news and commentary...recreationally. But when it happens, it's in addition to a quick daily practice that I can do while driving.

My current practice is:
NPR's Up First podcast
+
BBC World Service 5-minute news bulletin podcast
+
a daily scan of headlines on the New York Times or Axios homepage.

I subscribe to both podcasts; in my podcast app, they're in a smart playlist called "News," so they play one after the other. I set Up First always to play at 1.5x speed and to cut off some of the ads at the end. The BBC podcast refreshes hourly, and I've set my player to delete all but the newest episode. (At other times, I've subscribed to and scanned daily email newsletters from Axios, the Times, the Post, and the Economist; these days, podcasts work better for me. If I need a quick explainer, I often hit up Axios. They do NOT PLAY AROUND.)

I've started listening with my pro-democracy script in the back of my mind. (What do you think of that script idea, by the way? Too off-the-wall? Helpful at all?) Sometimes, given the extreme weight of the news, I have to spend some time in contemplation afterward, sink beneath it.

Action: Share your news-intake practice below. Or make one! (And if you haven't chosen a Favorite Feature of Democracy yet, do! Having a script is extremely clarifying!)

xoxo m