Obviously, that wouldn't be my recommendation.

But you have to wonder. What would it be like to live in Spokane if you steered clear of local news? Would you be happier? Is ignorance really bliss?

Well, you almost certainly would be uninformed. But there would be almost no way to avoid hearing people talk about news stories. So there's a chance you would wind up being misinformed as well.

But maybe the news itself isn't the problem. Perhaps the trick would be to avoid contact (in person or online) with people who are perpetually angry about the news -- whatever it is. Easier said than done. Everyone has an agenda.

Besides, facing reality means confronting the fact that bad things happen and idiots shout.

Whenever I think abour this, I remember a scene in the movie "Roxanne."

Steve Martin's character puts a coin in a newspaper vending box and takes out a paper. But he is so horrified by what he sees on the front page that he immediately inserts another coin in the box, opens it and then puts the paper back.

That's no way to live. But sometimes you can understand the impulse.   

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