You know I really don’t want to weigh in on this because it can so easily offend and cause bad feelings. I have been thinking/struggling with a topic for a number of years and it is coming back to the surface much like blister… it just will not go away.
Okay, so with full disclosure, I use to be a news-hound. Meaning, every morning I would get up and spend anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day reading, with color images, the most up to date news broadcasts.
It was common to see messages like:
“Warning Graphic material might not be suitable for younger viewers.”
“Language might not be appropriate for young children.”
“Warning could contain disturbing images and audio.”
These, by the way, are guaranteed to elicit a click, turn up, turn on, and dig deeper,
It’s about the news
which by the way
is it really news?
If the goal of journalism is to inform, then let’s look at the definition of news.
“Newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events.”
I have a family, you have a family or circle you run with, and we have enough drama in our own lives. If you want to think about it this way, remember the old adage, ‘what goes in comes out’? Let’s think about our mind, spirit, and soul for minute.
These are precious commodities and it doesn’t take much to taint or at least introduce certain things that I think we all can agree, might not be so helpful to have. Let’s take stock of some headlines at the time of this writing.
If I go online and pull news from 2 different well known sources let’s see what we get.
Crazy mayor – Yea, this affects my life personally…
2 missing in plane crash – I am sorry to hear this… should I ever fly in a plane again?
Storm victims piling up and rotting – This is a bit of encouraging news.
Photos of the Jones-town massacre – huh… photos of the tragic dead from 1978.
Victoria Secret model dissed Swift – Victoria Secret, who seems to have very little secrets, and what their models think of Taylor Swift has absolutely nothing to do with my life.
Wipeout – 10 million more accounts killed by Obamacare – I am shocked.
Pleading for our lives – more from Bengazi – more stories of the failed cover up and mishandling.
Man runs over 92 year old – tragic, unless grandma was trying to gun him down. But we will not know unless we open the article and read it.
Really, I am not trying to be mean hearted here. I am trying to make a point about the preservation of our lives, minds and stories.
1 – Do you believe everything you read and hear on the news?
2 – Do you think that the gems that might be important outweigh the garbage you sift through?
3 – If your life is about your family, friends and loved ones, then what good does it do to have any of these thoughts and images in your head?
For instance, how many of you really change your mind by listening to politicians talk? I get cracked up every 4 years witnessing how bad the ads are, how explosive they get, how black and white they are, and yet, practically NO ONE listens to them or really says “I didn’t know that… I think will change my vote”.
Truth, and relevance seem to be optional in our news. Do any of us really think that news is written to help us? Really? Please understand, back in my day there were 3 networks and that was it. Now, pick the type of news you want to believe and listen to it. Then you can claim that you are “informed’ and you “know” the truth. It is a great system because if you don’t agree it is because you are not up on the truth. Since truth varies depending upon the source, then it is a great way to create discussion and more importantly… division.
Here is another word –
Gossip – “casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true”
Let’s think this through…how many times has our venerate “news” been wrong (all news companies)…dead wrong. How many times have you listened, read or were told a story that got you TOTALLY jacked and upset, and it ended up either being not true or only partially true?
Here are the facts… news companies want you to listen to their news, Their adds, and in the end, it is about clicks, it is about advertisers it is about money. Again, truth has always been optional.
Here is the other thing… you have enough pain in your own life. Hearing about who got cut, shot, burned, raped, killed, drowned, frozen, crashed, beat up, racially slurred against, looked at the wrong way… has almost NOTHING to do with your life yet we are giving this stuff HOURS of our time every day.
I am not saying tragedy doesn’t happen to us, though some of you who know me personally know I understand life can be tragic. In fact, most if not all of you have had your own chapters of life with tough things. Did it affect you? Did it mess with your heart? Did it mess with your soul?
Then why spend your days listening to and reading accounts as bad or worse, that have NOTHING to do with your circle of life?
Here is a truth… the story of your own life is way more important than you think. The story of your own life has weight, meaning and relevance to those actually in your life, those that you love and those that love you.
I am concerned that the stories that are germane to your lives are being over-run and over-taken by other stories, which honestly, are not true, nor do they have relevance to your life. I am concerned that your stories are trying to compete with the over-hyped, overblown images and segments that are designed to get your attention and take you away from the things that are important to YOU, and those YOU live with.
Let’s say for one week, just one week, you cut down your exposure to the drug of electronic media by half… and take that time to discover what you get out of life and your story.
I believe that would yield rich dividends for the life you’re here to live. Give it a try… and let me know what you find out.
Thankful from the road,
Jeff Kennon
2 Responses
Good blog Jeff! Keep ’em coming.
I need to digest your comments a little more, bit a couple of quick thoughts come to mind:
There is value to a being a person who is interested in news and spends time digesting the news.
Simply put, I like doing interesting things. Reading the news is interesting to me.
Doing so helps me better understand the world around me and helps me better navigate the world. Instead of blindly wandering through life, I understand life. This is a good thing.
Especially in extremely complex, dynamic, diverse and confusing environments (like LA).
If one lives in the country, or desert, perhaps one could ignore what is going on in more complicated parts of the world
(or perhaps one’s need for news would change from needing to know what is going on in the cities, needing to know what how to avoid rattlesnake bites, or how to avoid falling into abandoned gold mines)
but most people do not live in the country or desert.
I love your challenge to reduce time spent on electronic media. There is so much world out the to be experienced! And it is best experienced in person.
So, with that being said, I am firing up the bike and headed to a quaint coffee shop to drink good coffee, listen to and perhaps participate in some good conversation, and – yes – read news (of many different subjects – some of which have nothing at all to do with me) on my ipad.