We Must Pace the Front Page

I - an employee at a News organisation - earnestly believe that something reported in the News could kill all humans! I personally think it is >13.7% within the next decade.

I've always believed that News could be a positive force for humanity, and that despite the risks, things happening in the world was a net benefit. Like many of us, I was drawn in by the Newsworthiness of Brexit - it was scary, but also exciting to be a part of it. Then Trump happened. Then Covid. And ever since then the rate of News has been exponential - and I'm increasingly concerned nobody has it under control. We must pace the front page.

There are two things I believe need to happen.

The first step, which I am unilaterally committing to today, is to do nothing newsworthy for the foreseeable future. The idea of pausing or slowing News has been floated as far back as 2023 and I think it made little sense back then. The question was always: what would you do with the extra time? Today, however, the picture is totally different. I commit to using the time to go outdoors, read books, maybe even talk to some humans.

The second, which is admittedly much more difficult to achieve, is global cooperation to stop doing stuff. This should start with democratic countries - as it is far easier to convince a a decision-making structure consisting of millions of people to do nothing than it is a structure of one.

While it may not sound feasible, there is precedent for this kind of global slowdown. Remember the 90s? Almost nothing happened. Our news cycles consisted of girl bands, princesses, and sordid affairs. And it was glorious.

The measures I propose to advance the News at a safe pace will not be easy. But I believe we owe it to humanity to try.