Like most of my friends, I haven’t watched any news programming since the election. For that matter, I haven’t watched any cable TV either, instead streaming (mostly British) shows on my Roku while I pedal away on my exercise bike. I still have my New York Times subscription, mainly for the games and recipes. I refuse to read stories about the machinations of the incoming administration or the failures of the outgoing one. For someone like me, a career U.S. History teacher, this cold turkey withdrawal from politics, pundits and policy wonkery is quite the unexpected move.
Mainstream corporate media is a profit-making business, with newspapers, cable networks, radio stations and their spinoffs more often than not parts of conglomerates or pet projects of billionaires. These infotainment organizations (propaganda machines?) are not here to deliver “all the news that’s fit to print” nor do they care if “democracy dies in darkness.” (I cancelled my Washington Post subscription in the spring after a British tabloid journalist became editor in chief. That decision was certainly justified after Jeff Bezos killed the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris).
I’m not planning on abandoning my “new normal.” Some media critics reason that people like me, a die-hard liberal, are merely “tired of politics” after Trump’s win in November. Others suggest that the ratings for MSNBC and CNN are tanking because “the country has moved to the right,” suggesting that to gain audience share these networks need to follow suit. Neither of these explanations captures my absolute refusal to spend one minute of my time immersed in the latest Trump outrage or Biden critique.
I’m tired of “both sides” journalism, disgusted by the normalization of our descent into kakistocracy. I don’t want to see Elon Musk’s face, or hear Donald Trump’s whiny, sneering voice, or read about what Democrats did wrong this election cycle.
I’m even more angry that instead of focusing on the absolute disgrace that is the American health insurance industry, the callous public reaction to the murder of the United Healthcare CEO is being blamed on Luigi Mangione’s cover boy good looks making women swoon or the moral decay brought on by social media. In fact, anyone who has paid any attention to what ordinary people are sharing knows that “deny, defend, depose” has caused enormous emotional distress, made medical bills the number one cause of personal bankruptcy and precipitated an untold number of premature deaths. Let’s profile some of the industry’s victims instead of Luigi Mangione.
This issue is personal for me, and it is part of the reason I am boycotting mainstream media. The new administration and its broad hints at cutting Medicare, or at worst privatizing it, constitute a threat to my survival. Diagnosed with oral cancer last spring, I underwent an eight-hour surgery, had a six-day hospital stay, endured five weeks of radiation and have attended countless doctor, psychologist, speech therapy, nutrition and occupational therapy appointments in the last four months. I have a PET scan this Thursday which will, I hope show “no evidence of disease.” With Medicare Parts A and B and a supplemental insurance plan my out-of-pocket expenses for my cancer treatment have come to less than $500.
I am immensely grateful. Grateful that I am alive and thriving, grateful that I did not fall for the scam that is Medicare Advantage (which isn’t Medicare at all), grateful for the skill and compassion of the team that has not just taken care of me but embraced me, grateful that I live in New York City where I can receive world class healthcare, travel to and from appointments on public transportation, live in a precinct that voted over 90% for Kamala Harris.
A slim majority of my fellow Americans who bothered to vote at all voted instead for Donald Trump. JD Vance came along with the deal, as did Elon Musk and the coterie of wannabe oligarchs surrounding the campaign. So did Senate and House control. I am too busy frighting the cancer that invaded my body and its after-effects to rally my fellow citizens to fight against the cancer that Donald Trump and his ilk have injected into the body politic.
Tip O’Neill, the famed Speaker of the House during Reagan’s presidency, once said “All politics is local.” For me, right now, that means practicing self-care, staying away from the news that only disheartens me, doing good where I can, tending to my family, my friends, my neighbors, nurturing my mental and physical health in order to fight another day.
On that note, I wish you and yours a New Year filled with love, meaning and good health!
THE MEMOIR LIFE 
Thank you Trish- you said it all for me & probably for so many of us. Sorry to hear about your cancer and wish you well. You have been through so much. Marilynn
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Thank you Marilynn ❤️
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Eloquent post, Trish. I had to look up kakistocracy—government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state—the perfect word to describe the wave of debasement afflicting “our” country (a unified possessive pronoun no longer applies). I wish you health, creativity, and well-being in the new year. And hope to see you soon. 💕
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Thanks Mindy!
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Well said! I, too, have retreated from mainstream news, as well as social media, to focus on what I must. Heal and be well, Trish. Sending you all good energy.
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Thank you and the same to you!
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I am in complete agreement with you, Trish. Even the healthcare and Medicare. I do not have insurance and will just get regular Medicare when I’m eligible in a couple years. I’m glad you were covered for your cancer treatment and hope you have recovered well. Enjoy your life! That’s the most important thing we can do.
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Thank you! And do sign up for “regular” Medicare when the time comes. It has been great.
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I don’t know what to do. The pragmatist in me says I can’t close my eyes and make it go away, but I’m so let down by my fellow americans that I’m a bit paralyzed. While the election was *close* I still feel the people have spoken. My beliefs are outside the mainstream. I’m not surprised left-leaning news outlets are struggling. Their viewership is sitting in shock.
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Realizing how many Americans are either fine with the MAGA phenomenon or sufficiently privileged that they don’t think Project 2025 or the dismantling of decades of progress will affect them has made me retreat from wanting to fix things. I’ve marched, I’ve donated, I’ve canvassed, I’ve taught history for decades, but now I am just in a place of thinking that those folks need to be personally impacted before anything will change. I remember so well an interview at the height of COVID with South Carolinians at an upscale mall who said that COVID restrictions shouldn’t apply to them them because they weren’t in the demographic at risk. (apparently only black people, poor people, old people were at risk in their view). The selfishness is just so real. The lack of understanding of how government works is mind boggling. And the misinformation machine has duped the low information voter into thinking that Trump will fix it all. I overheard a woman in the grocery store the other day saying that come January 20th the price of eggs and gas would come down. I can’t fix the mindset that got us here.
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You’ve said it all far better than I could and I thank you for that. Listening to books and music has been medicine for me. Happy to see this post in my mailbox.May your healing be swift and your recovery complete 💜
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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May I wish you a happier 2025. Keep away from mainstream media and read about silly beagles having adventures instead. 😀
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Will do!!
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Thank you for this, Trish. I have very little contact with anyone whose politics don’t match mine, though (significantly) my grandson’s and most likely his parents’ don’t. (I don’t know how to land with that.) I haven’t watched TV news since 1/6/2021 (when I had a temporary MSNBC subscription). I quit reading news stories the day after the election and get my only updates from Heather Cox Richardson’s unemotional storytelling with a dose of historical perspective. I will continue that. I can’t fix anything and I won’t spend any of the precious time of the elder years dwelling in the house of horror, fear, and heartbreak. You’ll find me on the mountain trails with the trees and rocks. I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with health issues. May you continue to heal.
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Wishing you some relief, and hoping that I see you publishing your writing. You would make a wonderful opinion writer for a major publication. Many people are in total agreement with you and you say it so well.
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It’s good to hear from you again, Trish. And I feel ya–it’s been a rough stretch. Hoping you receive the best possible report at your upcoming doctor appointment.
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Thanks Marsha. I’m a lurker on Threads but always enjoy your posts and comments.
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I absolutely am with you in thought and “non-watching news” deed. Well said, thank you.
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