Wonderful little video here by Hans Rosling (of TED.com fame) explaining
why not to use the news media to understand the world. English subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYnpJGaMiXo
Jez
On 10 September 2015 at 16:49, Jim Nichols <jhnichols@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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.
>>>
>>>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|