I have noticed that some people are news addicts and others are anti-news addicts (avoiding the news like the plague). I am the latter.
I never watch the news. To me, it’s simply a compilation of the most shocking, horrific stuff the producers can compile. Anything to keep my attention. Anything to have me glued to the TV. Anything to make money.
Shock Yields Fear
I noticed, in an informal survey, the distinct life perceptions of my news addict and anti-news addict friends. The news addicts where biased toward fear. That we must be cautious. That the world is unfriendly and dangerous. The anti-news addicts on the other hand were biased toward positivity. That we must take risk. That the world is friendly and inviting.
A Reflection
We become a reflection of what we surround ourselves with. And we surround ourselves with what we are. Choose to surround yourself with what you want to become. In due time, you will become it. A mirror image, in fact.
I read the newspaper cover to cover and watched the 6:00 news every day for YEARS. I thought it was my responsibility to be informed…until I realized that the “news” was just sensationalism (ESP when I lived in SoCal) …and the recession hit. I was a new business owner, and I needed to opt out of the negativity so I could attract the business I wanted. I have to say…I haven’t missed it!
I was the same way. I was watching CNN constantly. I don’t even know if my reasoning was been informed. When I stopped, I noticed that the critical or super significant news still got to me. People told me, the radio station would announce it and disrupt their program if it was really big. No question, my outlook on life is much better and I have WAY less fear of the outside world.
One question that I have for you Adrianne is this: How did you actually stop. I know you had to focus on business, but how did you prevent yourself from slipping back into it?
News is far more than just simple compilation of shocking information. Your observation, Mike, that news addicts are biased toward fear is the very reason why it looks the way it looks. In USA it is probably less evident than in Poland, where I live. Here we experience massive manipulation in *all* of the public and private media. And if more dramatic news is shown in TV, then you can be pretty certain that there is something really bad going with country (mainly its economy…), that government wants the masses *not* to see.
I have had “15 minutes of fame” of fame with television, appearing with some frequency on major news networks. I have become friends with executive producers at news stations and watched how they selected what to run and what not to run.
The model was “if it bleeds it leads.” Anything that could shock people and hook them in staying past the commercials was what would air.