Ignore 90% of financial media

Ever notice how financial news always feels just a little bit panicky?

That’s not a coincidence. That’s by design.

There’s evidence that negativity drives online news consumption. Specifically, each additional negative word in a headline can increase click-through rates by 2.3%.

Financial media leans into this.

The Brookings Institute found that “U.S. economic news coverage has, after accounting for changes in the economy, become systemically more negative over time.”

So it makes sense that the primary content strategy of the financial media is to sell fear.

This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Missing a threat used to lead to real consequences like injury, starvation, or being kicked out of the tribe. So we developed a strong instinct to react to bad news.

We haven’t outgrown this in modern life.

Fear still gets attention. And attention pays the bills.

To have a shot at building wealth – especially if you’re newer to personal finance – choosing what to ignore is just as important as choosing what to learn.

Boring advice doesn’t sell, but it works

If the headlines just say “Buy index funds and chill,” there wouldn’t be much of a financial media business.

But throw in “imminent crash,” “the Fed broke the economy,” or “why this recession will be worse than 2008,” and suddenly we’re all doomscrolling.

What’s wild is that financial reporters are incentivized to make negative predictions. Here’s the logic:

• They sound smart by calling out what might go wrong, tapping into people’s negativity bias. If they happen to be right, they look like geniuses who can predict the future.
• If their prediction is wrong, people are relieved it didn’t happen. Their bad prediction gets buried.

Either way, they keep getting invited back to talk about their next prediction.

What happens if you let negative headlines get to you?

You delay investing.
You wait for “certainty” that never comes.
You pull your money out at the wrong time.

There’s a real financial experiment that proves out this dynamic…

Peter Lynch, one of the most successful investors ever, returned nearly 30% per year in his Magellan fund.
Yet the average investor in that fund lost money. How could that be?
Instead of sticking to that fund, they paid attention to headlines and tried to time the market. So they bought into the fund at higher prices, then when they got spooked, sold at lower prices. (Source).

Financial media wants you to be a pessimist

If the financial media is incentivized to make you fearful, then it will get more lifetime value out of you if they successfully turn you into a pessimist.

Pessimists will pay far more attention to gloom and doom, affected by negative headlines.
And this leads pessimists to invest less, and hence build less wealth.

The most effective investors aren’t glued to Jim Cramer’s Mad Money.
They’re not on X predicting the next economic crash.
They automate their contributions, buy broadly diversified funds, and go live their lives.

So here’s the move:
Start paying less attention.
Notice how headlines make you feel.
Don’t outsource your money mindset to someone whose business model depends on your panic.

You don’t need to be in constant worry over the headlines. You don’t need to make big predictions. You just need to play the game that anyone can win.

And you can start by ignoring 90% of financial media.