Birjees Hussain

I dislike watching the news so much now. Much as it’s important to know what is going on in the world but the fear arising from the coronavirus seems to have got out of control and it seems to be worse than the virus itself.

Every news channel is talking about it and the information just seems to be getting worse and worse. Even the best of us will be stricken with fear about setting foot outside the front door. I know people who put on gloves and a face mask just to dump their household rubbish down the chute. They now think that all areas outside of their immediate front door are contaminated. But I do not believe that is the case.

I personally just want a bit of normality back in our news cycles. Or to talk about something completely unrelated to the virus. Boy do I get some relief when the news starts talking about the UK budget, the Brexit negotiations which seem to have stalled, the climate change crisis, a mass shooting, a knife attack or about the battle for the democratic nominee who I think is going to be Biden by the way.

I used to get so sick of hearing about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Megxit. But now it’s actually a welcome relief. It’s something lighthearted for a change

No one is talking about how climate change might destroy our planet, something that was at the forefront of leaders’ minds just months earlier. Just to let you know that the problem hasn’t just magically gone away. Amidst all the coronavirus scare, no one in the news seemed to give two hoots about the 5.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Croatia just a day or so ago. No one is talking about anything else. In fact, it’s as if all the other horrible news stories from around the world, including stories about the turmoil in the Middle East and bombs going off all over the place, just went away or they did not matter in the first place. Right?

But in the midst of all the madness and now being stuck at home, don’t we all now want to know about an obscure role the Duchess played? Don’t you want to know the meaning behind baby Archie’s name? Don’t you want to know what the couple are planning to do with their lives once Megxit is in full swing. Don’t you want to know that Diana’s psychic thinks the couple won’t last more than a year or that she hears dead people speaking to her, namely Diana.?

Now I do want to know what a celebrity likes to eat for lunch. Or how they work out at the weekends. Or how they filmed a particular shot in a movie.

I must admit that before this whole pandemic pandemonium began I was a very picky television viewer. I’d take the remote and click click click across all the handful of stations I have but I always come back to a news channel. I was a news junkie and I became one when President Trump threw his hat into the ring for the White House.

Not now though. Now I find myself stopping at any channel as long as it’s not a news channel. I now find myself even stopping at a foreign language channel whose language I do not understand. Pick a language, any language, and I’ll watch it. That’s how desperately I want to get away from this pandemic nightmare.

I think that, at times like these, news channels should be the furthest from your viewing schedule. It’s okay to check-in every now and then to make sure you know what you need to do and what new information has come out, because everything is fluid these days. But, honestly, I don’t think it’s okay to bombard yourself with the pandemic news all day, everyday. No pun intended, but it’s not good for your health and well-being.

I suggest you watch Youtube for entertainment. If you don’t have cable, and watch anything else, even if you’ve seen it before. It seems to me like the news cycle is stuck in a vortex. I actually don’t blame President Trump for wanting all this to be over by Easter. He thinks that it will all go away as quickly as it came. I sure hope so. InshaAllah.