Posted by octopusprime on August 2, 2004, at 13:44:20
In reply to Re: aside an aside » partlycloudy, posted by B2chica on August 2, 2004, at 13:02:27
b2chica:
i don't watch tv news any more either. i don't have cable. i don't get a newspaper subscription either.
i find the news much less anxiety-producing and nauseating when i hear it on the radio or read it on the internet. the radio news broadcast is 12 minutes of national/world news plus 7 minutes of local news half an hour later. it omits the car crashes and blood baths, although there is almost always a 30 second line item about what is going on in iraq, israel, etc. of course, if i want more details i can read more about it from the online editions of newspapers. i don't typically choose to follow up on the minutae of terror, instead i like to read more about public policy and the direction the politicians are taking the country.
i like the idea of being informed, i prefer to do it on my own terms. i don't like the responsibility and guilt of keeping up every day. it's not necessary.
in my opinion, public radio broadcasters (such as NPR in the US and CBC radio in Canada) give a more balanced and less sensational view of the news. i also like the world broadcasts of news from the BBC world service, Radio Australia (or whatever it is), Germany's DW radio, Radio Sweden, etc. (they rebroadcast them on CBC radio after 1 am local time ... since i live in the pacific time zone i just tune in over the internet to a broadcast on eastern time and listen as i fall asleep with the radio on sleep timer). it's easier to be detached from news from another country, plus the global perspectives on events are really interesting.
oh yes and did i mention that public radio broadcasts are commercial-free? the lack of commercials is music to my ears - blessed freedom from annoying shouting advertisers. with the advent of ad-blockers (especially in the firefox browser), online newspapers can come ad-free as well.
enough of a ramble. but changing media to a quieter, less obnoxious format may help.
poster:octopusprime
thread:373162
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040802/msgs/373202.html