How to Go on a Media Diet
The following was excerpted and translated from an article by Marco Visscher, "Wijsheid is geen nieuws" ("Wisdom is No News") that ran in the March 2002 issue of Ode, an Utne Reader-like magazine in the Netherlands. It was posted without permission on the Nettime mailing list. I do the same here.

Three Suggestions For a "News Diet" (detox program):

Never read today's paper, always yesterday's. This will automatically lead to a certain distance.

Never watch the news on television, but watch it half an hour later on video tape instead. You will find you'll skip over the uninteresting bits and that the sum total of news you watch will drop. (Bonus tip: With everything the news reader says, ask yourself aloud, "Oh, is that so?")

(Advanced technique) Once a week, put your newspaper aside immediately. Do not use for litter box. Do not read; stick to reading yesterday's paper during the rest of the week. Read the extra paper only after two (or three, or four) weeks. You will find that many articles have become redundant or are simply boring. You will have missed nothing.

Translated by Pieter.