News Flash: I don’t watch or read the news

Alternate title: Pick up todays post to learn why not not reading the news could kill you or your family.

The mainstream news is just not worth my time or stress level. To be honest I have not really made a major effort to go on a news diet, it just kinda happened naturally as I don’t like the taste. News programing is like all shows, in that they are tying to get ratings. How do you get rating, you scare people into watching, you make people angry about petty issues, you do fluff pieces, you show kittens and killers!

• Tonight at 5:00 tune in to learn why your neighborhood park is becoming more dangerous every year!
• Tonight at 10:00, tune in to learn how your children may be getting poisoned at school!
• Tonight at 11:00, tune in to hear us guess the weather.

Then there is the newspaper, which I know is somewhat a generational thing as I can’t even figure out how to open and fold the damn things. The few times that I have managed read a story I am always abruptly stopped, and then have to jump back like 5 pages and search for the rest of the article. By the time I open, find, and fold the paper to finish the article I forgot what in the hell I was even reading about. However, the few times I have managed to finish and remember the whole article, I just think, ok, now what, is that it? The articles are normally so short and empty that I just feel like I spent and extra 5 minutes at the urinal reading the writing on the wall. Sure I read what people wrote, but I am not better for it.

I don’t know, maybe I am just missing something, or maybe the mainstream news has changed. I know I hear all the time that the newspaper business is dying, and maybe rightly so, or maybe it is time for them to change their approach. Maybe the news is trying to fill so much time and space, day in and day out, that there is no other way then to be heavy on the sauce and light on the substance.

Side note of honesty: I love watching the news when it snows! This is most likely linked back to childhood, when you would tune in to see if school was canceled. As an adult it is still great because it is the best excuse to miss work. Furthermore, it is actually some good times watching the man on the street film all the cars getting stuck stuck, crashing, etc….. but other than that great piece of journalism I will be happily tuned out!

photo courtesy of flickr user: brij