Dear Devoted Viewers:

A few weeks following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing a research study was done to compare the stress levels of those who were firsthand witnesses to those who only saw the terrorist attack on the news. The study (found here) discovered that those who watched the story unfold through the media were three times more likely to experience ongoing stress than those who were actually present when the bombs were detonated. What’s more, the level of ongoing stress increased proportionally to the amount of post-event media the individuals consumed. In other words, those who watched the most news about the Boston bombings were the most stressed-out. This makes sense. Journalists are trained to create engaging narratives that hold the attention of the viewer, driven by a business