How to Stay Informed About News and Politics Without Losing Your Mind with Spencer Joseph, 10x Emmy-Winning Journalist

Spencer Joseph (0:00)

I probably shouldn't say this as a reporter that, you know, wants to get you to watch, you know, something, but a lot of times, what it is, is you have to wait three or four days for everything to truly come out. That's how media makes money, is they're trying to get you to click on it as fast as possible. That is exactly what may be driving that disconnect between the reality and the perception. The scary thing is, more and more, it isn't a human being that's writing it.

Olivia Burnett (0:26)

If we don't give room to hear opposing side, where does that leave us?

Hey, Twenty Somethings, it's Liv, and I'm so excited for this episode. We've gotten more requests for this episode than any other one. And I think that's because politics feels so overwhelming right now. There's so much information coming at us all the time. Headlines, TikToks, podcasts, breaking news, people telling us what we should be angry or afraid of, and somehow with access to more information than ever before, it's harder than ever to know what to actually listen to, what's actually true. And I think a lot of us fall into two camps. One, we either become completely consumed by it, or two, we decide it's just easier to tune it all out. But honestly, I don't think either one is the answer. So today, we're having a super honest conversation about how to actually be an informed person.

Which sources do we trust? How do we recognize bias? How much news do we actually need to consume? How are social media and algorithms shaping what we believe? And maybe most importantly, how do we learn how to think instead of just being told what to think? Joining me today in the studio is Spencer Joseph, an Emmy-winning journalist and former news anchor and reporter who has spent years inside the news industry. This isn't an episode that's going to tell you who to vote for or what political affiliations or opinion you should have. It's about learning how to find good information, ask better questions, think critically, and participate in what's happening in the world without letting it consume you and your mental health. So whether you follow politics religiously or you hear the word politics and immediately want to skip this episode, stick around because this conversation is for you. Let's get into it.

Wait, are we recording? Welcome back to Twenty Something. And you guys, this is a conversation I am so excited about. It's one that I have gotten so many requests from you guys to have, and it's such an important one to have. So I didn't want to bring on just anybody, and I am so ill-equipped to be giving advice in this section at all. And so I am so honored and grateful that Spencer Joseph, a ten-time Emmy-winning reporter, is here in the studio with us today. Spencer, welcome.

Spencer Joseph (3:00)

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here, excited to talk about this.

Olivia Burnett (3:04)

I'm so excited. You know, it's something that in prepping for this episode and talking to a lot of the Twenty Something community, I had so many people ask me the question in various ways, right? Where it's like, how do normal people become informed citizens without letting politics consume your life? Or I know for me, I have certain areas that I really deeply care about and I feel very informed on. But then everything else, it's like when you're talking to someone about it, I'm like, I should probably have an opinion on this, but I don't know enough. And then I'll go out to a news outlet or TikTok, or are we kidding? I go to, you know, right? And then I get overwhelmed in about 10 seconds and I'm like, well, that was a nice try.

Spencer Joseph (3:51)

Yeah, exactly. And the doom scrolling of it all has just become a part of all of our daily lives.

I was looking something up just a couple of days ago and talking about all of this, that 70% of people under the age of 30 now just find their news innately. Like it just comes on to their feet and not in a way that it used to be. Whereas 20, 30 years ago, people were seeking that out. There were appointment television. You talk about that all the time in TV, where you're trying to get people to turn on that news at 10 p.m., whatever that newscast is. That's just not the world we live in anymore, is it? Yeah. So it's so strange to now just have news appear. And as you're scrolling and then you get into it, your algorithm starts taking you down that path, right? And you're into it, right? And it makes you feel overwhelmed. It makes you feel just, you know, a sense of a heartache for whatever you're watching or makes you worried for whatever you're watching. I mean, so many different things.