News Anxiety Resources - APNews.com

Those of us of an anxiety nature need to feel safe. Avoiding news is a thing and many have embraced Ostrich power. 

However, as I have learned from recent real life experience, that can be quite dangerous. I'm not being dramatic here. 

I turned off all news notifications from my phone and reduced my social media consumption. I certainly felt better.

But fire doesn't care. Earthquakes don't care. Floods are proactively destructive. Then there is that whole social upheaval and change in government thing. Just makes a person gassy.

Logo of the Associated Press

So we can be anxious but not willfully stupid. And with the daily infodemic flow of content, we need to have a strategy on learning what we need to know and filter out the gunk.

Find a way to stay informed but mentally healthy. One way to do that is to find viable resources.

Hard to do in the United States of America. We are being bombarded with fake news, twisted news and things that are not even remotely news in profiteers clothing. 

The ability of using AI to map another persons un-consenting voice to an AI generated body is spooky.

The other day, I viewed a video about how good AI avatars are getting. You can still spot the goofy but it is harder to do. 

So what can we do?

Plenty. One option is to visit known trusted as possible resources.

The Associated Press (AP) is a non-profit organization that gathers and reports on the news. They have their own reporters, camera crews and staff. 

The AP also has customers and cooperative agreements to provide their content to broadcast news and media outlets. AP goes out and gets the news. 

It then distributes those stories to a feed that print and broadcast media use in the their news stories.

If you want to access AP content as a consumer, then you will need to visit APNews.com

What You Can Find on APNews.com

For the most part, APNews, doesn't embellish or add spin reported stories. They talk to everyone liberal, center and conservative. 

You might not like the news story, but you will receive factual information known at the time.

Example of the cover page with menu options and the current story of the day.

Pros and Cons

Pro:

It is free to access apnews.com and ready any story.

Exposure to international, regional an and sometimes local news. There is a lot of content. 

Now more than ever, U.S. folks need to understand how we are impacting other countries. AP News gives you that opportunity.

Con:

It is a legit non-profit. You will be asked for a donation. Not once but each time you visit a new page. You can sign up for a one-time donation or become donor to remove the nag window. 

There is an APNews app that you can download. Bad news is that doesn't seem to have good ratings for functionality. You can access the web version on your phone or tablet.  

More bad news, I found that on phones and tablets devices there is more of a mixture of ads and news content. That is a problem. You have to look hard to make sure you are clicking on a viable news story.

APNews is not perfect. No person, business or corporation is. But it leans more fact based that most of the print and broadcast media outlets.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

The public version to find news stories is APNews.com.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.