Russ's Ravings: I Am Suffering From News Fatigue. Help Me

Editor's note: The following is Patch Field Editor Russ Crespolini's, hopefully, weekly column. It is reflective of his opinion alone.

I have written before about the difficulties this year has presented not just to our society and our world but to me personally. I've discussed how 2020 began for me with brain surgery to remove a tumor and I recovered just in time to get thrown into covering the pandemic.

For months, it has been a slog. As we struggled through reporting out the worst of the pandemic in April and May so then the developing repercussions to jobs and graduations and proms and vacations.

And that is not all that came our way. We also had hurricanes and wildfires and an contentious election that has brought out the worst in so many. Social movements have been met with equal parts praise and disdain.

Civility is gone and people have chosen sides and tell the other side that they are the problem. I am tired of reporting on it. I am tired of writing about it and I bet you all are tired of reading it.

So I am asking you for some help in fixing it.

Now, of course I am going to still report the news and write columns about the election and anything else I feel like writing about. But I also want to give us all a break and maybe some escapism.

I've been writing a lot about businesses that are adapting to COVID-19, and I would love to write more of those stories, so I hope readers seeing this will pass along those tips to me. I also want to hear about what other good news is happening in and around our communities that might be getting lost in the grind of the news cycle.

What am I missing that I can get out there for others to enjoy and celebrate?

Tell me about the people in your life that inspire you. Tell me about your fall traditions or weekend activities you are looking forward to. Share with me what you are doing to escape and maybe I can share it with others, so they can try it too.

And if you aren't in my coverage area? Well I will pass along those story leads to my colleagues here, so they can follow up.

So do you own a unique business I can check out? Do you volunteer somewhere giving tours at a historical site? We want to hear all about it.

And if we can give ourselves these brain breaks it will allow us to be more patient, more tolerant and more civil. We can't avoid dealing with the challenges in front of us, but we can work to recharge to be better suited to facing them.

When I first started in this business back in 2002, news was much more of a one way street. Editors told you what was important. Now, more than ever, it is a conversation. And it is one I am interested in having with you.

Russ Crespolini is a Field Editor for Patch Media, adjunct professor and college newspaper advisor. His columns have won awards from the National Newspaper Association and the New Jersey Press Association.

He writes them in hopes of connecting with readers and engaging with them. And because it is cheaper than therapy. He can be reached at russ.crespolini@patch.com