Why The Series You Binge-Watch Could Affect The Next Election

A recent study reveals that the media we consume has serious psychological consequences. And the poorer the quality of what we watch and read, the more dire the effects.

- Johan Fourie

In the movie You’ve Got Mail, Frank Navasky, played by Greg Kinnear, writes a column in support of his girlfriend’s bookstore which is in financial distress. He writes that Fox Books (the big, bad chain store) threatens the survival of “one of the 20th century’s most profound truths: You are what you read”.

A new book by Jodie Jackson, You Are What You Read, argues that this truth is hurting us badly. Contemporary negativity bias in news media, she argues, affects how we see the world around us, impairing our mental health and the choices we make. News has become characterised by deliberate invention, gross sensationalism (clickbait!) and, often, simply lazy inaccuracy.

And just like most of us would agree that our food diet affects our health, so, too, does our media diet affect our mental health. Based on a wide range of academic research, Jackson shows that our perception of reality is far too easily influenced by false narratives – and that there are practical steps we can take to improve our mental health hygiene. (Like leaving Twitter.)

The type and quality of media we consume also affects our cognitive ability. This, in turn, has political consequences. This is the remarkable finding of a new study by economists Ruben Durante, Paolo Pinotti and Andrea Tesei, which will soon appear in the American Economic Review.