In an information ecosystem dominated by urgency and negativity, both journalists and the public are facing the same kind of exhaustion.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It is coming to an end, but the urgency to rethink not only how we work with news, but also how we consume it, is not.
At times, staying informed seems painful. And this is not an isolated feeling.
More and more people are avoiding reading, listening to, or watching the news, not out of indifference, but out of exhaustion. It is a silent decision many make as a way to protect their mental health from a reality that is presented almost exclusively through the lens of crisis.
The data confirms it: around 40% of people worldwide avoid the news sometimes or often — the highest level ever recorded — according to the Reuters Institute. And four out of ten say they feel “worn out” by the amount of information, perceived as “depressing” and “relentless.”
But while the public is partially withdrawing from the flow of information, something parallel is happening inside newsrooms: journalism itself is exhausted.
The Invisible Burnout
A survey by the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media reveals that around 70% of journalists have experienced job burnout, and nearly three out of four have considered leaving their work. These are not isolated cases, but rather structural symptoms.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as a “syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” In journalism, that stress is multiplied by the constant pressure of immediacy, job insecurity, and daily exposure to negative events.
As researchers in the field warn, “having a large number of people experiencing burnout is not sustainable.”
The problem is not only the workload. It is something deeper: an erosion of meaning. A growing disconnect between the vocation of public service and the actual dynamics of the profession.
The Other Side: An Overwhelmed Audience
On the audience side, the phenomenon has a name: news avoidance.
Far from being apathy, it is an emotional response. Many people admit they avoid the news because it negatively affects their mood or because they feel powerless in the face of what is happening.
One testimony cited in recent studies summarizes it bluntly: “The world is too depressing right now with the news.”
The explanation even has a psychological basis. The human brain is naturally predisposed to focus on threats — what is known as the “negativity bias” — which makes constant exposure to bad news particularly draining.
A Silent Risk
However, protecting ourselves by completely disconnecting also comes with costs.
The Reuters Institute warns that the decline in news consumption may have negative implications for democratic participation and the fight against misinformation.
In other words: the same mechanism that protects us individually today may weaken us collectively.
This is where the central tension of our time emerges:
How do we protect mental health without disconnecting from reality?
Rethinking Journalism… and Consumption
This scenario demands changes on both sides.
For journalism, it means revisiting practices. Not only improving working conditions but also rethinking how reality is told: incorporating context, nuance, and approaches that go beyond immediate impact.
It also means transforming internal culture. Academic Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up, offering ideas, or expressing concerns.” Without these kinds of environments, healthy and innovative newsrooms are unlikely to flourish.
For the public, the challenge is different but equally urgent: developing a more conscious way of consuming information.
It is not about staying less informed, but better informed. About setting boundaries, choosing reliable sources, and avoiding the constant and fragmented exposure that generates anxiety without providing understanding.
Do Not Turn Off Empathy
The fact that the news affects us is not the problem. In fact, it is a sign that we are still connected.
The challenge is to avoid extremes:
- that overexposure wears us down
- that saturation numbs us
- that anguish paralyzes us
Because if we stop feeling, we stop engaging. And if we stop engaging, we stop acting.
A Conversation Still Pending
This is not only about reducing stress or limiting consumption. It is about something deeper:
How to rebuild a more human, sustainable, and meaningful relationship with information.
For journalists, it means recovering purpose amid demanding systems.
For the public, it means learning how to stay informed without getting harmed.
And for both, it is a shared challenge:
to keep looking at reality without allowing that gaze to paralyze us and ultimately break us. Let us not renounce our principles and let us nourish our ideas with carefully examined truth — the real truth, not the one we find comforting to believe.
Cristina en tu Esquina is a column written by a psychologist, focused on providing practical guidance on mental health, emotional well-being, and human dynamics in everyday life.