The challenges of navigating an unrelenting news cycle

Millions of Americans absorbed a dizzying political news cycle this past weekend, trying to process a series of extraordinary headlines for an already divided electorate.

Matthew Motta, an assistant professor of health law, policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health, does more than follow the news. He studies how consuming it affects people’s health.

Motta said the relentless headlines surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the Trump classified documents case and the ongoing pressure President Biden is facing to halt his reelection bid left him feeling stressed. 

And what his research says about such news events — especially extraordinary moments like the attempted assassination — might be surprising.

“The people who consume the most news, they’re there for a reason, they enjoy this type of content, even news that might stress them out,” Motta told CBS News, explaining that to some degree, “a fair way of putting it” is that they enjoy being miserable.  

“And they are a relatively small number of people in the American electorate, but they are precisely the types of people who are the most likely to vote,” Motta said.

Normally, only 38% of Americans pay close attention to the news, according to a Gallup survey last year, but there was nothing normal about this three-day news cycle.

The assassination attempt served as a ground-shaking moment, grafting next-level news trauma on the American psyche.

America’s mindset was already racing with the pandemic, racism and racial tension, inflation and climate disasters. The American Psychological Association calls where we are now the “impact of a collective trauma.”

Most people, however, try to tune out the news, either through lack of interest or as a coping response. But that also comes with consequences.  

“If people disengage, then we potentially run the risk of losing their opinions at the ballot box,” Motta said.

But in a 24/7 digital world, eventually, the biggest headlines chase those people down, and this moment in history is one of those times. It also means the extraordinary news cycle we’re in could have staying power.  

Mark Strassmann

Mark Strassmann is CBS News’ senior national correspondent based in Atlanta. He covers a wide range of stories, including space exploration. Strassmann is also the senior national correspondent for “Face the Nation.”