Bob, I see your point, but I'm not one to put my head in the sand. I
WANT to know what is going on around me.
I watch a half-hour news show from Nashville, to get local perspective,
and a half-hour NBC evening news show, both recorded so I can skip
commercials. I read the Sunday-Wed-Fri local newspaper, what is left of
it. And I read TIME and FORBES from cover to cover. I watch breaking
stories on the internet. I consider this time well spent. This is the
world that my children and grandchildren must live in every day.
For sanity, I spend time on these lists, where I can get different
perspectives from all around the world.
And, I shoot and process photos. That helps keep me mentally sharp.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
On 9/10/2015 10:32 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
Aye, and in your final paragraph is the rub. "What I see on the nightly
news shows . . ."
Good mental health requires limiting news intake. It is more harmful than
calories, cholesterol, tobacco or alcohol.
The news business is for profit. Profits require ratings. Ratings require
viewers/listeners/readers. Drama, woe, tragedy and threats of ultimate
demise attract attention, garner ratings, and increase profits. It's not
that what they are reporting isn't true, or factual (or mostly true and/or
factual--except Fox News, which is naked propaganda), it's that news lacks
any kind of perspective. When I say "any kind of perspective", I mean
exactly that. Few, if any news organizations--possibly exepting PBS/NPR and
the BBC--even pay lip service to perspective.
As Moose pointed out, he's wandering around Brooklyn and Harlem and seeing
scads of happy, well-nourished and adjusted people. I'm doing the same in
slightly less urban settings. Portland, Maine, for example, is chock-full
of young families who don't shoot themselves taking selfies. <g> These
people don't show up on the nightly news.
Add: Survey data continuously reinforces the precept that most people think
the world is going to hell--somewhere else. They say they're fine, but the
other guys are really screwed.
Ration your news consumption. You will add _years_ to your life. Trust me
on this. I'm full of a lot of hot air on a lot of things because I don't
know how to keep my fingers from whacking my keyboard, but, to borrow
someone else's words: This I know is true. (Not to mention I spent 14 years
in the newspaper business, from police reporter to editorial page editor. I
_know_ how the news business works.)
PS: And don't get it all from one source. That doubles down on damage to
your health and well being. If you hear about something of interest, check
out multiple sources. You'd be amazed at the shifts in emphasis you'll see.
--Bob Whitmire
Certified Neanderthal
On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 1:56 PM, Jim Nichols <jhnichols@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Moose,
Maybe my perspective is warped by old age, can't really separate it all
out. As to my own family, the best comparison I can draw is with my
grandkids. They have all finished college before embarking on family
responsibilities. The two boys were in the final years of their medical
education before their first child was born. Although their wives have
professions to fall back on, they are serving as full-time moms. I see
little difference between their lives and those of my wife and myself,
except they are better fathers than I was.
What I see on the nightly news these days is the exact opposite of that.
--
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