Kim recently “pulled the plogue” on the news, including newscasts. The pandemic, inflation, shortages, the war in Ukraine, American politics… The news had become too “heavy”, especially in summary.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
“It was anxiety-provoking. I was all the time in c*sse! For my mental health, I dropped out, ”explains the 41-year-old Montrealer.
Kim is far from an isolated case. A survey by the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report released earlier this summer shows an increase in a phenomenon known as “active avoidance” of news, a term that refers to a deliberate decision to dodge the news. topicality, among other things because it negatively influences mood.
Bad news can indeed be accompanied by “emotional rebound effects”, “micro-emotions” which can persist for a few hours in certain more sensitive viewers, explains the neuropsychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Quebec in Montreal François Rich.
“In some people, it creates a sense of helplessness in the face of major social and economic forces. It makes them feel like they’re less than they really are. Being constantly reminded that you don’t have control over much is hard morally, he illustrates. I understand that one can want to leave such a source of stress. »
A worrying phenomenon
The progression of active avoidance worries, to varying degrees, the three general-interest Quebec channels that present daily news bulletins, TVA, Radio-Canada and Noovo.
The head of TVA Sophie Thibault conceives that she must “report the important stories”, but she also recognizes that a concentrate of bad news, “it depresses the world”.
“What’s the public interest in talking about a guy driving into fawns while cursing?” What gives? What do we send as a charge to the people who are listening? I was at home when it happened, and I changed jobs, ”says the host of TVA News 5 p.m. and 6 p.m..
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
Sophie Thibault, TVA anchor
According to Sophie Thibault, we must refrain from “bombarding viewers with horrors”. Other strategies are preferable.
We can offer people great stories without them being candy or blue flowers. We are humans, we need hope.
Sophie Thibault, antenna manager
At Radio-Canada, they refuse to adapt the content of newscasts to retain viewers likely to desert the airwaves, exhausted from heavy subjects.
“Are we building the common thread of the Newscast saying, “Don’t have too many depressing news?” The answer is no, ”comments the director general of information for the public broadcaster, Luce Julien. “Would we deprive ourselves of news because it is difficult to hear? No more. »
“We don’t have a good news mandate. Otherwise, we would be failing in our mission to inform the public about important news, ”she adds.
However, Radio-Canada allows itself to touch the container. The way of conveying information is the subject of continuous reflection.
The state-owned company is also interested in solution journalism, a type of journalism that gains ground by offering keys to solving the problem raised.
“Whether in health, in the environment… We are trying to see, elsewhere in the world, if there are models that work, that could guide us, that could teach us lessons,” emphasizes Luce Julien.
At Noovo, the new head of antenna Marie-Christine Bergeron believes that by modulating the tone of news programs, we can make the experience easier for many.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Marie-Christine Bergeron, branch manager at Noovo
That’s why she wants to create a “relaxed” atmosphere in the Thread 17. “I like when it’s relaxed. We can smile when the news lends itself to it. Sometimes you have to breathe. We are coming out of a pandemic, we are coming out of a very dark and difficult period. We may be heading for something just as dark. We talk about recession, economic difficulties, etc. When you can find a little way to make viewers smile, you have to take it. It can do good. Just because it’s a newscast doesn’t mean you always have to be serious. »
Listening little affected
Positive point for TVA, Radio-Canada and Noovo: the rise of active avoidance does not seem to be detrimental to the ratings of major news bulletins. For the moment.
President of the agency dentsu Quebec, Geneviève Guay has not identified any “significant movement” in recent years. The most recent listening results would be similar to pre-pandemic levels, she points out.
According to a study by ThinkTV, published in July and concocted from Numéris data for the fall of 2021, Quebec adults watch nearly 30 million hours of news programs per week, or 22% of the total time they pass in front of their television.
News comes in behind fiction series (23%), but ahead of programs of general interest (18%), films (13%), reality TV (12%) and all sporting events (9 %).
According to the neuropsychologist François Richer, the diffusers must nevertheless adapt their bulletins because they risk losing customers. In particular, it encourages better contextualization of news.
“There should be less news given without a long-term perspective. Journalists could provide optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. Above all, we must curb the tendency to exaggeration, he believes. No, the United States will not become a dictatorship because of Donald Trump. No, COVID-19 does not mean that we are going to lose half of the people. »
“The media wants the butter and the money for the butter. They want the shock effect, but without accepting the consequences. They are like sellers of sweets or heroin: they are happy to have a captive clientele, but when their clients fall ill, they are surprised to lose some. »