Now that we have news channels running 24 hours a day, telling us how bad things are going and how the government is a total f***Up, that Global warming is going to destroy the planet, that shooting wolves from Airplanes is so much more inhumane then said wolf being shot from the ground, or said wolf killing caribou calves.
I get depressed and wonder how our country will survive.
I have gotten caught in this habit of listening to these talking heads (a lot) and mulling it over. I tell myself that I need to stay informed and up to date in what is going on.
But now that I really think about it - that's BS. These guys talk to make money. They have to invent controversy and conflict in order to sound like they have a cause. And they are destroying our country in the process.
Lent is coming. I am going to resolve to not watch CNN, FOX or MSNBC at all until Easter. I bet that my attitude will get better - when I constantly am not told that the sky is falling.
I don't watch the news except maybe for the weather. For all its left wing leanings you can still get some good info out of the NY Times. The Wall Street Journal ain't bad either.
There are plenty of online news sources as well.
(Message edited by johnnylunchbox on February 08, 2009)
I used to like to watch the local news but I've found that it's actually only the first 2 minutes of the program that has anything of interest for me. I finally just gave it up completely.
I got fed up with the local news because all it does is promote what's coming up later in the news. Why not just give us more news than promote something coming up later?
Since all I can get at work is CNN (I don't have cable at home and my old tv only gets a few channels at work) I realized that they pretty much just repeat the same news every 1/2 hour. I don't pay a lot of attention to that either.
I used to listen to talk radio a lot more but all that does is depress me. I'm about ready to try satellite radio and start listening to 'Deep Tracks' and some of those stations that play the old music that wasn't Top 40 stuff.
Instant news coverage has had the effect of making the worlds tragedies seem bigger and closer than in generations past. Wars today are more precise and have fewer civilian casualties than ever before, but there will be 300 news cameras taking film of any collateral damage incurred. sad? yes. News? not really. people die in war zones.
An airplane crashes and we see footage of it for weeks. Does it mean that flying is unsafe? No, but it undermines the confidence of the public at large.
There IS such a thing as too much news and too much pressure to fill 24 hours a day with news stories that will hold the attention of the public. The old adage that "if it bleeds it leads" is still true. The news services dig for a juicy story rather than reporting the news in many cases. Remember the Chevy truck saddle tanks that were "enhanced" to make the footage more dramatic? Just one example of reporters trying to hype up a story despite the small issue of it being faked.
How many others have they not gotten caught at? I don't think I would really want to know. I just wish that they would report the news rather than fabricate a "good" story.
But that's just my opinion, your mileage may vary.
Guell, have not ridden since January 11th. Broke 3 ribs, blew out my right knee - playing softball. So the last month has been spent in a recliner in front of the TV. Luckily the weather has sucked for the last month.
Local news - it's like a drug dealer approach. Give you a little taste so you will come back later....
Amen to the OP. And fear is the great power play isn't it? Nothing kills off freedom more than fear, and the news media is being used by those who want power.
On new years, I took my tv out to the field and pumped a box of ammo into it. Hasnt been anything of value on there in years. I am thinking the next target is my mail box. But with the cost of ammo, I might just blow it up with fireworks.
I can't stand the talking heads!! Everytime something happens, there is some "expert" they interview (who is miles away from whatever happened) and they Monday morning QB everthing to death!!! I'll change the channel or leave the room, before I will listen to the talking heads, who after reporting on some tradgedy, smile and say "In other news..."
To quote Iron Maiden "Up the Irons!"
I'll catch the first few minutes of the local news every now and again to see what is going on in my neck of the woods and that is about it...
I watched some news in Nov. 1994. I took the tv out back and put a brick through it and haven't watched it since. I'm a much happier man without it. And I don't need prozac.
My three boys read books. The youngest when in the third grade got tested on his reading skills. He was at an 11th grade reading level. There are things you can do to over come the public education system. I even started reading more. Read the KJV bible in 4 days. My wife like romance novels. I like Maxim.
I'm done watching the news. I get the weather online. Things always seem ok till i watch the news. It was all about 9-11 and how we were going to get bombed, then the bird flu, and now the depression.
I couldn't agree more with your openig statement. You constantly re-enforce something, the mind starts to believe it. Seeing it everyday just makes it worse and worse. People start to get scared, and stop spending etc....... If from day one we were never told that such and such financial institution was in trouble, would it have gotten worse?
Every summer when my buddies and I go on one of our week-long tours, we are always amazed by how relaxing it is to be without news of the world for several days in a row. And yet when we get back to civilization we immediately fall back into our habits of nonstop news radio and AP wire updates. They don't call it being a news "junkie" for nothing. The craving for constant information is a sickness.
Problem is 24 hour news AND internet discussion boards where people ASSUME that just because their words MIGHT BE read by a large group of people (more than a half dozen) that all of this really matters.
We haven't owned a TV for more than a decade (since the last Gulf War). WE're buying a house this week and everybody is saying we should have a housewarming/Daytona party. Problem with that is that we will NOT get cable or satellite just so our friends can watch TV at our place (besides I can put that money saved into the racebikes or vacations).
INSTANT information without intelligent interpretation is like a turd lying in your path - you need to know how to step around it, not step INTO it.
or... in a related though: common sense ISN'T.
(Message edited by slaughter on February 09, 2009)
Forget Television, at least most people can still be yanked away from those for a couple of hours. What about Cell Phones? 20 years ago you were spoiled or very important if you had one, now you can't tear people away from the things without them going postal! If you are stupid enough to ask them, they will tell you 3,467 reasons that they can't live without them. I don't know....It seems that the sky managed to stay aloft before they came along.
I remain an advocate that the best way for the feds to raise money is to put a $0.50/minute tax on cellphone usage.
I got used to paying $1.15/min back in the IMTS days and am fairly certain that traffic would be safer, school kids would learn more and the national debt would vaporize in about 30 days.
Go to a movie theater with stadium seating and sit in the back row. You'll see at least half a dozen cellphones lit up during for the entire duration of the movie from people texting.
I had a mobile phone for about a month in 1997 till I threw it away. Now I just feel a bit sorry for the addicts. Must be tough having so much stuff that is 'that' important.