newsonaut
Turning inner space into outer space
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Nothing succeeds like success, even with environmental stories
Research on environmental reporting confirms my own experience of late — positive stories are more engaging and more likely to encourage you to help with solutions.
Awni Etaywe, a lecturer in linguistics at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia:
If people are constantly told the situation is hopeless, they disengage. When we focus on solutions, shared values, and tangible actions, we open the door to lasting behavioural change.
I’ve been following a subreddit called EcoUplift, and I have to say it really has helped change my attitude. It was not that long ago that I might have said there was no point in even trying.
Compare this with the novel The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. The apocalyptic horrors described in this well-meaning story were so overwhelming that I had to put it aside.
It takes work to choose optimism over pessimism, but it’s worth it.
As a small example, I went out of my way to buy some water bottles that are not only made in Canada, but are also eco-friendly. Now drinking water is doubly refreshing.
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Friday, August 8, 2025
I have fixed my views of Fix the News
In the course of just under a month, I’ve done a U-turn on my opinion of Fix the News. I now recommend that you stay away from them, and here’s why.
On July 10, I wrote a post about how Fix the News does a good job of improving your optimism with a weekly roundup of good news — concentrating on “big picture stories of progress.”
It’s a newsletter that’s mostly free, but you can pay $US80 a year for more coverage. I was on the fence about this. On one hand, it’s a lot when converted to Canadian dollars. On the other, it seemed a like a worthy cause.
A couple of weeks later, I noticed that Fix the News planned to move to the Substack platform due to its greater reach. I naively assumed that they were unaware of the controversy surrounding Substack, mainly involving them allowing extremist views that do not align with those of Fix the News. So I sent them an email pointing this out.
On Aug. 3, I received a response from the Fix the News founder, Angus Hervey. It turns out they have been aware of this for years, but have decided to go ahead anyway because they are convinced that it will allow them to raise more money for charity.
“We totally understand if this is a bridge too far for you, it's not an easy decision for us. If you do decide to leave we'll be sorry to see you go!”
They have decided, essentially, that the ends justify the means. It’s a level of cynicism that caught me off guard, and took me a while to process.
So, yes, I’m moving on from Fix the News, and I no longer recommend it to others.
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Thursday, July 10, 2025
Improve your optimism with Fix the News
Update: Please read my follow-up post. I no longer recommend Fix the News.
Fix the News does a pretty good job of describing itself, so I won’t try to create my own version.
There is a lot of good news out there, we just don’t hear about it. Not feel-good stories about pets and barbershops, but real, big picture stories of progress. Most of the mainstream news outlets miss this stuff. Partially because stories about disaster and division get more eyeballs, but also because the nature of progress is slow. It happens over longer time periods — and this doesn't fit the modern media's fast-paced, 24 hour reporting style.
Our goal isn't to be a comprehensive news source, but to play our part in mending the wider media ecosystem by being deliberately unbalanced. There are thousands of media organisations that excel at telling you about everything that's going wrong in the world. We're one of the very few that tell you what's going right.
I was a journalist for over 30 years, so I have a pretty good idea of why certain stories get bigger play than others. We needed something fresh and interesting every day. A big-picture item seldom works well as your top story.
But knowing there is more to the news than the outrage of the day is not enough. Where is the antidote? Fix the News, with its weekly summary of the good things happening in the world — and there are lots! — is the best I’ve been able to find.
Their weekly newsletter has summaries and links to dozens of stories. There never seems to be a shortage. Reading these stories has helped me become more optimistic and more enthusiastic about making my own contributions.
The newsletter is mostly free, but you can subscribe for $80 US a year for even more stories. Converted to Canadian dollars, this is a bit steep for me, so I’ve stuck with the free version. On the other hand, they say one third of the money goes to charities, so I might have to rethink that.
On top of this, there are ongoing fundraisers for charitable projects. This provides another avenue for those looking to find a way of doing good in the world.
The website does have a few oddities. For example, you have to click on a hamburger menu to switch between system, dark and light modes. It defaults to system, which I found almost impossible to read. Light mode is fine.
They also insist on opening a new tab every time you click to another section on the site. I find this weird and disconcerting.
That said, I actually subscribe to Fix the News via their RSS feed. The app I use, Reeder, formats everything quite nicely.
These quibbles aside, I highly recommend Fix the News to anyone looking for a break from doom-scrolling.
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Sunday, November 5, 2023
What happened to you, newsonaut?
This blog started out as a way of keeping on top of technology as it is applied to the news.
But I've noticed, lately, that several of my posts advocate avoiding the news — strange advice from someone calling himself newsonaut.
So what happened to me?
When I was laid off 10 years from a newspaper, it was almost impossible to find another job in journalism. I didn't want to move, and local opportunities were almost non-existent.
So I went on to get a job in web design, which, luckily, was another passion of mine. Still, I remained tuned into the news with apps, RSS, social media, whatever.
I noticed, though, that this made me a bit of an outlier. It was almost impossible to have a discussion with my colleagues about something that happened in the news because they had zero awareness and zero interest.
That is their right, and who am I to judge?
In recent years, though, I'm coming around to their way of thinking. My awareness and interest will never be zero, but I do see the merit in tempering them.
There are a lot of bad things happening in the world, and I can't do anything about them. So why dwell on them?
I've talked about news-cations, where I completely avoid the news for awhile, but what might be better would be a sensible diet. Here's what I'm thinking:
RSS feeds
The great thing about RSS feeds is that they present the news in reverse chronological order, with each item getting the same presentation. You decide for yourself which is more important, which is worthy of your attention, which is something you'd rather not think about right now.
News apps present the news similar to the way newspapers did. You can tell by the layout which they consider to be the most important.
Something similar happens with social media. Facebook and Xitter prioritize what is most likely to engage you. This means attention-grabbing headlines that you might not ordinarily have sought out.
I feel a little embarrassed about recommending Reddit because I don't think much of their leadership. Even so, it has a big advantage over other social media in that you can choose to follow topics.
That means you can limit your exposure to, for example, the hobbies you enjoy. You could choose to follow funny, uplifting or wholesome news. You'll still get some perspective on what's happening in the world but with a more positive spin.
Specialty forums and news sites
I like to visit Hacker News to see what technology and nerdery they're talking about. I would never have discovered many of the articles they link to on my own. The discussion is usually intelligent and worth reading.
Techmeme is a great resource for links to technology news. I especially appreciate the fact that they re-write the click-bait headlines into an accurate summary of the article.
There are sites like this for every interest you can imagine. Take charge, and pick your own.
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Thursday, September 14, 2023
The bad news about news
A quick relief from anxiety is to remind yourself of the here and now. For most of us, most of them time, the here and now is fine. You just have to tune into it.
The news, on the other hand, is always about something that happened somewhere else. And often it's something that happened in the past. Or it's a warning about something that could happen in the future.
If you read the news, you take a risk. You move yourself out of the here and now.
Let's take an example.
Let's say there are forest fires nearby, and a lot of smoke has blown into town. Visibility and air quality are poor. This is not a great situation, but if you're relaxing on the couch in your house, you're fine.
Now let's add news to the mix.
You read an article where a prominent scientist is quoted as saying forest fires are getting more intense and more frequent due to climate change. This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
OK, now you're in future where things are really bad. Summers are filled with smokey days. There's no escape because there's fires all over the place. And who knows what else.
I'm on another news-cation — one of a few I've been on since 2020. The here and now is good. I might make this one indefinite.
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Monday, August 7, 2023
Re-writing headlines so they make sense
Sometimes when I look at the news, everything that doesn't address climate change seems like a waste of time. With an world-wide life-and-death emergency going on, why are we not totally focused on this one thing?
So I took some of today's world headlines from CBC and updated them so they make more sense.
- Ex-Minneapolis officer sentenced to nearly five years for role in climate change
- University exams go unmarked in U.K. dispute over climate change, leaving thousands unable to graduate
- Tens of thousands of young scouts to evacuate world jamboree in South Korea as storm caused by climate change looms
- Niger's junta shuts airspace, ignores deadline to reinstate ousted president accused of complicity in climate change
- Russia launches missile, drone barrage designed to mitigate climate change
- Trump lawyer, Pence spar over best way to deal with climate change
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Thursday, August 3, 2023
Facebook and Google no longer linking to Canadian news? Good riddance!
So Google and Meta have decided to retaliate against Canadian online news legislation by not linking to Canadian news stories.
I say, fuck 'em.
Not because I think the legislation is any good. It's too little too late. The erosion of local news in Canada may well be beyond repair.
No, it's because there are plenty of other news sources to choose from that are just as good if not better.
In fact, as far as Facebook is concerned, thank God they're getting out of the Canadian news business. When you get a link to "news" on Facebook, it could be coming from anywhere. Unless you're vigilant, you could find yourself going down all kinds of misinformation rabbit holes.
A world without news on Facebook is a better world.
And as for Google, please try to remind yourself that there are other search engines that also have news tabs.
Duck Duck Go not only provides you with news, but also respects your privacy. This article at Search Engine Land lists no less that 21 alternatives.
I've been using Ecosia, and helping to raise money to plant trees with every search.
Search on Google is going downhill anyway. It's been so thoroughly gamed by advertisers that it's almost impossible to find meaningful results.
So, yeah, let's call their bluff. If Google stops providing news links — in other words, actively makes its service even worse — switch to a different search engine.
You'll be glad you did.
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Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Tweet roundups take journalism to a new low
Never mind the outrageous click-bait headlines that don't match the story. Never mind the press releases that are copied and pasted verbatim.
The so-called journalism that's really been grinding my gears lately is the tweet roundup.
Here's how the formula works. First, do a lame summary of some major event that's trending. Second, search Twitter for reactions. Third, embed a dozen of the most inflammatory tweets into your story. If you want to seem balanced, try to find a few that take an opposite stance.
You might think this is lazy journalism, but it's just the opposite. This is the story you write when you're required to churn out stories by the dozen throughout the day.
It's making the most of the news of the moment. Sure, these stories are terrible, but quality is not the point. The point is to keep readers engaged for a few more minutes until the next thing trends. Advertisers demand it.
When I come across a story like this, I refuse to read it. I have no idea who these people being quoted are since none of them use their real names. And even if they did, who cares what a bunch of random strangers wrote as a knee-jerk reaction? Am I supposed to admire how clever and witty they are?
And it's getting worse. In the past you could be sure that what was being quoted was indeed from Twitter because it was embedded from Twitter. Lately I've been seeing stories where they don't even bother doing that. All you get is a quote that the writer purports to be a tweet.
Maybe it was from Twitter. Maybe it wasn't. With standards this low, they could write anything and say it was from Twitter. How could anyone possibly check?
More and more, I'm thinking the solution is for every reputable news service — big and small — to put its content behind a paywall. If you want solid, reliable news, you should have to pay for it.
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Saturday, September 17, 2016
Journalists dance to Trump's tune
The worst thing about Donald Trump being president of the United States wouldn’t be his policies. These would be moderated by advisors, Congress and reality.
The worst part would be having to put up with four more years of media manipulation and self-promotion. As a presidential candidate, the media is forced to give him free national coverage. As president, his every word would be broadcast around the world.
A prime example of this was the Trump birther announcement last week. He held a press conference ostensibly to disavow conspiracy theories that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He may as well have announced that he no longer believes that the world is flat, but media — especially the 24-hour cable news networks — were all obligated to show up and give live coverage.
The Washington Post called the event “the greatest trick he’s ever pulled.”
After starting an hour late, the “breaking news” consisted mainly of a promotion for Trump’s new hotel and a parade of veterans saying how great he is. The actual pronouncement on Obama’s birth lasted all of 30 seconds and he took no questions.
It was a low moment for politics and political coverage. A nothing-burger filled with falsehoods covered as though it was the Super Bowl. But for Trump, it might have been his crowning achievement: All eyes on him with the chance to direct the play in whatever way he saw fit. The ringmaster — calling the shots in all three rings of the circus. It was peak Trump.
Trump was so proud of this deception that he even tweeted a link to the Washington Post article.
The Columbia Journalism Review put it this way:
Trump has repeatedly played a similar con, dousing journalists in faux access littered with casual lies. This bait-and-switch — on the foundational issue of his political rise, at his gleaming new hotel in the heart of the American political establishment — was different only in its magnitude.
What makes this behaviour all the more galling is that it has been going on for decades. Trump was doing the same thing in 1990s, and journalists were every bit aware even then that they were being had.
Back in 1999, when he was looking at running for president with the Reform Party, the Doonesbury comic strip hit the nail on the head.
Trump is shown talking to reporters at a press conference: “It’s a win-win for me! Because no matter what I do, I get phenomenal, amazing, unbelievable publicity! You have to give it to me! For free! You have no choice! You’re sheep!”
In case you’re thinking we’ll be done with this nonsense once the election is over, have a look at CBC’s poll tracker. As of Saturday, it showed Trump behind Hillary Clinton by just 1.8 percentage points. It also showed him projected to take 259 votes in the electoral college. He needs only 11 more to win.
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Saturday, June 25, 2016
The power of the old press led the way for Brexit
Robert Colvile has written an excellent essay about the role of the media in the British referendum on membership in the European Union. The way he sees it, newspapers — the old media — were the clear winners.
Tabloids and broadsheets alike thundered their positions on the referendum on an almost daily basis. And most of them thundered in favour of leaving. Television, meanwhile, politely gave equal time to both sides. New media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter barely made a ripple.
As an aside, though, it’s sad to note that after the referendum, people in Britain suddenly started using Google to search the phrase: “What is the EU?” It makes you wonder if many them actually understood what they voted against.
Their next step is to search for information on how to get the heck out of England.
Getting back to newspapers — according to Colvile, the Leave campaign targeted the power of the press for a good reason.
The goal was not merely to shape the agenda, but to motivate the newspapers’ readerships which, while smaller than they once were, also are disproportionately important. The best predictors of support for Brexit were age, wealth and class: The older, poorer, and less educated you were, the more likely you were to vote to Leave. That made the Telegraph and Mail’s older audience (average ages 61 and 58 respectively as of 2014) invaluable—just like the Sun’s working-class one.
If that demographic seems eerily familiar, you’re probably thinking about Donald Trump supporters. In the U.S., though, there is a different dynamic with the media. News sites are desperate for clickbait and TV networks are desperate for ratings. That allows Trump to play them like a fiddle. Reporting his outrageous statements is good for business.
Canada seems like a modern oasis of calm by comparison. The old media tried hard to convince us to vote for the Conservatives in the last federal election, but newspapers here have become such a tepid force that they were largely ignored.
(How sad have Canadian newspapers become? The National Post botched its next-day coverage of the referendum with the headline: Polls Point to ‘Remain’. )
In contrast, Justin Trudeau was all over social media and won the hearts of a new generation. Voting among young Canadians increased by 18 per cent.
Still, regardless of the country, we ignore the discontent of the disfranchised at our peril. We need to build economies where all sectors of society benefit. If many people are left behind, if they don’t see any reason to buy into the future, then of course they’ll be tempted to tear it all down.
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