A long day here in the Republic of Gumbolia, culminating in a slow commute home to a turkey sandwich snarfed down in front of the tube. Because I do not get a newspaper anymore, most of my news comes electronic form, and I have recently fallen back into the habit of skimming the television news while I eat dinner and decompress.
This troubles me. Television, and its cousin the Internet, have a way of becoming a digital briar patch. Filtering becomes critical when faced with information 'push', 24/7. Effective filtering becomes increasingly difficult in proportion to the degree of weariness on my part. Ergo, I too often get sucked in.
Or irritated. The news has really been taking a bastard file to the raw ends of last nerves, yet I find myself too tired to stop watching.
Since I am very tired right now, I'll keep this rant short:
"Dear television news people: please stop running feature stories on just important the holiday season is to retailers across America. Sure, shopping is fun, but its just another business, and I don't live life waiting for the next big sale. If the headline stories are to be believed, if retailers don't have a good (i.e. lots of money in the till) holiday, then life as we know it will crumble and we will have to live in the stone age or something. And please, please, stop running continuous stories about how the recent horrible weather will have an negative effect on retailers, thereby leading to the stone age scenario again. Here's a tip for you: money doesn't disappear just because a blizzard kept people from going to the mall, it only rests. Don't worry, it will be spent, one way or another.
Oh, and as far as bad weather ruining a day of shopping? I think stories about strangers and neighbors braving the weather to take dialysis patients to treatment, or helping someone get food and heat, trump another puff piece about vacationers in Disney World complaining because they had to buy a jacket. Enough already!
Thank you,
IG
P.S.: An occasional story about kittens or puppies romping in the snow would be nice."
Here endeth the rant.
29 December 2010
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Television news seems to have become an inner circle of hell.
ReplyDeleteit's because the news isn't about what's happening now that you need to know, it's about "what's the least confrontational story we can read on tv that won't offend our sponsors!" it boggles my mind that there are never any stories about what's going on in the WORLD that have or will have a direct impact on our lives. tv news has become a continuous loop of drivel. take a look at bbc america and see the difference in how geo-politics is reported. cnn USED to do in-depth real reporting when it was started by ted turner, but it seems stories that require more than a 30 second sound bite are no longer covered. i could go on, but i'm guessing you understand my pique about news reporting as it exists now. jon stewart was right about the media, they need to stop putting on a show and leave the entertaining to people like him!
ReplyDeletehere's to better tv news in 2011, sugar! ;~D xoxox
Wellfounded rant---Hear! Hear! P.S. Turn off the teevee when eating; music or quiet is much better for digestion/decompression.
ReplyDeleteYou'll seldom find ThatJanieGirl watching the news. It's depressing and gets into my heart.
ReplyDeleteI've got enough stuff there already!
Have a happy 2011, Irish! ThatManILove and I love you! (PS - thanks for the Christmas card from the wee lass and yourself - you always make me smile! Now COME VISIT US!)
Hello, I've just been reading through your December posts. Love the poetry slam. Can I link to some of your tree poetry in the january edition of Festival of the Trees?
ReplyDeleteHave you read the classic "Brave New World"? it's like Aldous Huxley was a prophet. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the nonstop talk about our local retail season when a couple of months before Christmas, some idiot yahoo crazy person set the biggest mall in the area on fire? Oh, the tales of woe that continue to come out of that.
ReplyDeleteYeeeaahh. If they could only mix up the bad with some wonderful, right? We decided to forgoe the news tonight, and just listen to some music. Well, okay, Hubby is checking the tube AND listening to music. Crazy boy!
ReplyDelete