I cannot figure out why I keep seeing messages suggesting there’s no need to panic. I’m pretty sure that any rational person knows that there’s never a good time to panic. If I freak out, your “don’t panic” social media post is probably not going to talk me off the ledge.

(I suppose I’m not supposed to take “don’t panic” literally. Still, people with these messages might be more effective if they changed their focus from what to avoid to what they want.)

The real challenge is keeping people in a rational state of mind. If we want to do that, maybe we’d be better off avoiding news organizations that depend on ratings for profitability. The “If it bleeds it leads” mentality is probably not helping.

If you gave up the news, what would you lose that’s worth keeping?