All Gen Z jokes aside, the 24-hour news cycle and never-ending bad news is real cause for concern
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, I glued my eyes to my phone, paralyzed with fear, and imagined myself or my loved ones in an unexpected pregnancy, completely unprotected. I remember what it felt like to have my heart race before scrolling on my phone, always in anticipation of another horrific news story, another friend reaching out in confusion, another reminder of helplessness.
The only humor I felt during this time was when my friend sent a mock news story from Reductress magazine after trying to be positive about the news constantly flooding our screens. As a member of Gen Z, I am familiar with content that pokes fun at emotional trauma and I laugh at it. Sometimes there isn’t a punch line, just heavy experiences that millions are drawn too because, well, it’s relatable.
I am prone to liking these posts because they help me feel that the emotions I experience from the 24-hour media cycle are not felt alone. There is a general feeling of everything really sucks, but at least I know you think it sucks too, let’s make it into a joke.
It’s important this reaction isn’t misunderstood but addressed seriously. There is a reason young people are posting memes with traumatic twists.
We understand that the world is becoming too much for us, but don’t really reflect on that. It’s impacting younger generations emotionally and socially. I am concerned about the lasting impacts if the media doesn’t start to recognize that profit-driven algorithms are at the heart of this generation’s struggle. I saw thousands of infographics and news stories about Roe v. Wade because that’s what I interacted with. The reoccurring presence in my feed is what ultimately overwhelmed me and led me to inaction.
How young people cope with media’s commercialization of their free time isn’t their fault, but a different news model should be normalized to ensure people can connect action to current events, not survival tactics. If not, we must ask ourselves if we are OK with the public struggling to look beyond their phones.
The never ending flood of negative news has made me and many of my friends so numb that cracking a joke to find some relief feels like the only way to cope. I’ve grown up online, hyper-aware of all the bad happening around the world. The only way I’ve ever seen this addressed is through humor.
As a journalist and a witness of Gen Z’s decaying mental state, I understand how pertinent it is that the media considers how the news today often numbs instead of stirs people to sustainable action.
Journalists are supposed to point out what’s wrong, but solutions journalism tries to expand on this by promoting newsworthy responses to problems. There should be a higher expectation for these stories to be written. Adoption can be particularly impactful on the local level.
Nora Graham, lifelong activist from Omaha and student at Marquette, has thought a lot about finding a balance between being informed and staying emotionally in-touch with the news.
Graham uses social media, for example, to localize and further conversations surrounding breaking news. Instead of using reshared images, they provide resources people can seek out in their neighborhoods to support.
To Graham, when individuals take a local focus to big news events it can help them understand how this topic really impacts people, why they specifically should care and how they can get involved in concrete ways that make a difference in their community.
It’s easy to look at general calls to action such as, donate here, sign this petition now and share this infographic. These are all valid ways to participate in discourse, but they are often too broad, too detached, and too easy to walk away from.
I realized that after weeks of being paralyzed with fear over Roe v. Wade that I didn’t know current laws and protections in my home city. I was too busy trying to digest the whole picture. Recognizing this, I allowed myself the grace to focus on media covering my local community and resources I could support and follow. It helped me feel like I had the ability to protect my loved ones and that’s not a joke.
Maria Crenshaw is a senior at Marquette University and an intern with the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Profit-driven algorithms pushing constant bad news no laughing matter
