During our recent holiday in Rarotonga we saw no television, listened to no radio, and read no newspapers. We were extremely happy. When we got home again, we turned on the television at 6 o’clock each night to watch the network news and collected the Herald from the letterbox at 6.30 each morning to read in bed. (We’re not great radio listeners.) We were noticeably less happy. I came to the same conclusion that I come to after every news-free holiday overseas. Mass media news has an insidiously corrosive effect on happiness. Read the rest of this entry »