My name is John and I am a news-a-holic. With that introduction, I am declaring a certain addiction I have to the consumption of information about my world. I cannot help myself. It is who I am.
Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I want to declare my news fatigue over the reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coronavirus crisis and all the assorted variants of the disease that have sprung up around the world.
They have exploded in India, South Africa and have traveled around the world in — snap! — just like that. The disease and its variants have consumed broadcast, cable and streaming networks, not to mention the printed pages of newspapers, magazines and assorted journals.
I cannot quite put my arms around this story. I haven’t yet grown tired of the congressional hearings examining the 1/6 insurrection, which I consider to be an existential threat to the very government I and others cherish.
The pandemic coverage is becoming tiresome.
I say that knowing that members of my family have contracted the disease. One family member was in serious condition in a hospital for a month; we could have lost her. Several friends of mine have died from the disease. I have skin in this game.
However, I am weary of hearing so much about the disease. Yes, some of the news of the past few days has been heartening to some extent, with reports of cases diminishing and projections from health experts that we might be able to live with the disease the way we live with, say, the flu or the common cold.
I will continue to be an ardent consumer of news. I won’t apologize for that addiction. Nor will I say I’m sorry about growing weary of the bombardment about the pandemic.