An increasing proportion of people say they avoid reading, watching or listening to the news. According to this year\u2019s edition of the Reuters Institute\u2019s Digital News Report<\/a>, 40% of people say they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 29% in 2017. At 41%, the South Africans who took part in the survey were in line with the global average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The top eight reasons people avoid the news are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2639\ufe0f It has a negative effect on their mood At The Outlier<\/em> we are well aware that people feel overwhelmed by the amount of information out there because it\u2019s something we experience ourselves. It\u2019s especially frustrating when information is contradictory or when it leaves you feeling powerless in the face of a deluge of negativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our approach at The Outlier<\/em> is to limit the amount of information we publish, focus on facts and visuals, avoid the negative unless we think we can add (data) value and, wherever possible, include a sense of humour or surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n President Donald Trump banned travel to the United States for citizens of seven African countries and restricted access for another three countries from 9 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate list, he included an additional 24 African countries that may be subject to travel restrictions if they didn\u2019t provide \u2018remediation plans\u2019 for concerns identified by the US government that include security vetting and people overstaying their US visas, according to the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 34 countries are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Banned<\/strong>: Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Restricted travel<\/strong>: Burundi, Sierra Leone and Togo. People from these countries cannot go to the US permanently or get tourist or student visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May be restricted<\/strong>: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nice to see that South Africa is not one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We previously looked at the number of Schengen visas rejected for African applicants<\/a> in 2024. Some of you asked about the cost of these visa rejections and which countries were affected. Here we go:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The severe weather that hit the Eastern Cape last week has been classified as a national disaster. Last week, parts of the Eastern Cape were hit by devastating floods which killed more than 90 people. Mthatha was hardest hit. In a single day, 9 June 2025, 129mm of rain fell on Mthatha, smashing a 28-year record set when 76.6mm fell on 11 June 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The severe weather that brought snow, damaging winds and heavy rainfall with devastating loss of life, as well as damaging infrastructure and disrupting basic services, has been listed as a national disaster by the head of the Disaster Management Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a weather event is classified as a disaster, it allows different levels of government to step in to coordinate and manage the disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2015, there have been 76 disasters classified at various levels of government. Over a third of them were due to severe weather such as heavy rains, floods, hailstorms and strong winds. The Eastern Cape has featured in 11 of the disasters related to severe weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In January 2025, there was already a national disaster in the Eastern Cape caused by heavy rains, so the latest weather-related disaster is the second this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a disaster hits, the National Disaster Management Centre, under the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, can disburse two types of grants: disaster response and disaster recovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, after devastating floods in eThekwini (Durban) in April 2022, a state of disaster was declared and R1.8-billion was made available for emergency relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disappointingly, the auditor general found that only 6% of that money had been spent<\/a> more than three months after the disaster was declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8 They are worn out by the amount of news
\ud83d\udca3 There is too much coverage of conflict\/war
\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f There is too much coverage of politics
\ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f There is nothing they can do with the information
\ud83e\udd2f It leads to arguments they\u2019d rather avoid
\ud83e\uddda\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f It doesn\u2019t feel relevant to their lives
\ud83e\udd14 It\u2019s too hard to understand<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/News_avoiders.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\uded1 No-go zone<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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European view<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\ud83c\udf0a Underspend<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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