Reading through all the other doomposts I felt obligated to share my view.

I read national/international news every day, and I'm still optimistic about humanity's future.

First off, I don't bother with local news at all. That really is just a cesspool of crime reporting. My dad summarized local news pretty well: "someone was murdered today, and heres some footage of blood on the pavement."

As far as national and international news goes, I read it because I think it's interesting and it's good to stay informed, but you can't use it as a barometer for how the world's doing, because news is just inherently negative. It doesn't mean the world is actually doing bad!

Which of the following do you think would get reported as a headline?

"Indonesia enjoys another year without a tsunami"

"Thousand killed as tsunami ravages Indonesian coast"

"Global poverty rate continues slow, steady decline"

"Millions at risk of starvation as African crops fail"

"Good news, no new deadly infectious diseases this year"

"Scientists raise alarm over spread of bird flu"

I think maybe it's helpful to think of the news not as objective reporting on the state of the world but rather like a police blotter that just logs bad things that have happened. And I think it's perfectly fine to tune it out and just live your life. If you're interested in a particular issue, like homelessness or an election maybe look at a less sensational information source like Wikipedia or something.

Also, just a little mini-rant: the two types of people who are most negative about the state of the world are religious missionaries and leftists. Because in order to convince you that the world needs a savior they have to convince you that we aren't on a path to do it ourselves. So, maybe steer clear of news on Lemmy as well haha