Does the Constant News Cycle Give You ‘Issue Fatigue?’

Reporters Jake Neher and Cheyna Roth talk about political ramifications of being bombarded with too much information.

Newspapers Newspaper Stack 5.24.17-jn

National Wildlife Federation
Enbridge Energy's Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac

A recent political cartoon floating around the internet says “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.”

WDET’s Jake Neher and Michigan Public Radio’s Cheyna Roth talk about the political ramifications of being bombarded with too much information.

“We see this with the Flint Water Crisis,” says Roth. “There are people on the ground in Flint living there saying this has been a tragedy… we’re tired, we want to move on from this.”

“You even hear lawmakers in Lansing refer to the issue as ‘Flint fatigue.'”

Roth also points to Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline controversy, saying attendance at public meetings about that issue has dwindled recently.

Roth and Neher talk about what causes this phenomenon and what can be done to combat it.

Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.

Authors

  • Cheyna Roth is the co-host and creator of WDET's state politics podcast, MichMash. She has been an audio journalist for almost a decade, covering major events like presidential elections, college scandals, the Michigan Legislature and more, appearing on NPR and across Michigan public radio stations. Cheyna is also a senior producer and podcast host for Slate.com, having produced and hosted shows like Political Gabfest, The Waves, and What Next TBD. Also an author, Cheyna has written two true crime books and her written work has appeared in Broadly, Slate, and MLive, among others.
  • Jake Neher is senior producer for Detroit Today and host of MichMash for 101.9 WDET. He previously reported on the Michigan Legislature for the Michigan Public Radio Network.