You know I like writing to music, movies, tv shows, etc., but I never write to news. Why? Short answer: it would drive me crazy, and I’d get no work done.
Long answer: news is distracting because…
- It’s like popup ads on your computer – it’s deliberately trying to attract your attention by changing topics every few moments and talking about really dramatic events.
- It’s harder to ignore death and destruction that are being wrought on real people. Sure, there’s death and destruction in movies, but it’s not really happening. When it’s really happening, it’s harder to ignore (for me, anyway).
- It’s not familiar. There’s a reason I play movies and tv shows in the background that I’ve already seen many times. They’re familiar, so they’re comforting (see anxiety) but not distracting.
Playing news in the background also completely defeats the purpose of watching news. I mean, the whole reason to watch news is to educate myself on current events. If I’m doing something else that takes all my focus at the same time, then, that’s completely removing any reason for having news playing.
So, yes, even for those of us who like to write to background noise, there are limits. News is one of mine.
Savannah Knightly 