Author Topic: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??  (Read 22340 times)

Manguy888

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Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« on: June 30, 2015, 09:15:49 AM »
I'm in a vacation house for a week with my in-laws. They leave the television on basically all day, which drives me crazy. But the worst was ABC nightly news last night. I've never watched it before. In roughly half an hour, here are the subjects they covered:

- Shark attacks in NC
- Wildfires in WA
- Small plane crash in MA
- SpaceX Rocket Explosion
- Flooding...somewhere

None of these stories carried any context or big picture framing. No experts were consulted. Nothing actionable for the viewer. Basically they just showed pictures of the event, then interviewed affected people crying. After each news segment, my mother in law would intone 'isn't that awful'?

I suspected that this brand of news was harmful, but it took being away from television for a long time to really be hit with how corrosive it is. I felt terrible after, but with no sense of what I could do to stop feeling terrible. I could see how someone watching this every night would build, brick by brick, a wall between themselves and the world and assume that THE WORLD IS NOT A SAFE PLACE. And this isn't even the politically charged, fear mongering cable news.

It was apolitical catastrophy porn. And because this house has paper thin walls, I cannot escape it.

Apocalyptica602

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2015, 09:20:06 AM »
Couldn't echo this sentiment any more. My parents were born in the 1950s and I spent the better part of my childhood arguing with them that the world is 'actually safer than when they were children'.

It's just the instantaneous 'connectedness' of the world which leads to the pervasiveness of the news and the ratings-chasing, fear-mongering that gets all these people scared.

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2015, 09:37:28 AM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

forummm

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2015, 09:42:48 AM »
I hate TV news. I refuse to watch it. It kills my brain cells. Its minimal utility is far outweighed by its time-wasting and sensationalism.

music lover

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2015, 10:04:41 AM »
Most news isn't news anymore...it's simply headlines with little or no follow-up. And, don't forget their tendency to overlook the law breaking of the party they support while at the same time condemning the other party for doing exactly the same thing.

regulator

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2015, 10:06:58 AM »
Yep.  It drives me crazy when my parents visit because Dad is a news junkie.  Every time the market goes up or down more than 1% a day I get a panicky call from him that is instigated by watching CNBC (*barf*).  We finally got rid of cable, so now there is no news feed for him to watch when they visit next month.

UnleashHell

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2015, 10:47:54 AM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

you missed the "coming up after the break (more fear and a promise of a cat story at some point)"

Patrick A

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2015, 10:54:22 AM »
Couldn't agree more.  Every time I watch TV it makes me happy I don't have TV at home (let alone pay for it). 

DecD

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2015, 10:57:36 AM »
Last week I was reading one of Madeleine L'Engle's nonfiction books- from her Crosswick's Journals- and she was discussing how now, in the modern age, we get our news so fast, with so little time for processing/reflection, that it's damaging to us.

It was a particularly interesting discussion given that the book was written in 1972!

MoneyCat

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2015, 11:02:51 AM »
I learned that my life improved a lot once I cut TV out of my life (except for live sports).  Not watching TV isolates you from TV news sensationalism and it also isolates you from advertising, which is designed to make you feel unhappy and inadequate unless you spend money on their product.  I've also been cutting many blogs out of my life because everything has become extreme clickbait sensationalism.  "New Media" is notoriously bad about that kind of stuff.

Manguy888

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2015, 11:10:19 AM »
I've been cutting down too, and it's causing some tough decisions. I listen to Bill's Maher's show on podcast religiously (pun intended). I think he's hilarious and he tries to bring in intelligent, opposing viewpoints. But I think even this show is bad for me. It gets me all hyped up and indignant about the issues of the week, then drops me back into the real world irritated but without any real outlet to address those feelings. It's like informational blueballs.

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #11 on: June 30, 2015, 11:14:23 AM »
I've been cutting down too, and it's causing some tough decisions. I listen to Bill's Maher's show on podcast religiously (pun intended). I think he's hilarious and he tries to bring in intelligent, opposing viewpoints. But I think even this show is bad for me. It gets me all hyped up and indignant about the issues of the week, then drops me back into the real world irritated but without any real outlet to address those feelings. It's like informational blueballs.

Yes! That's exactly what watching the news feels like.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #12 on: June 30, 2015, 11:16:03 AM »
Oiy, I would totally lose it if I were trapped in a house like that for a week. Can you put on a movie, or something? Remove the cable cord from the back of the TV and hide it in the bushes?

My parents are also news junkies, but I just pretend to be really, really interested in that great documentary on snow cranes so they won't change the channel. Now that we have kids I also get to say, "Uh, the news isn't suitable for kids. It gives them bad dreams. Please turn it off."

wenchsenior

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2015, 11:45:13 AM »
I boycotted broadcast news more than 10 years ago, but a couple years ago realized I had just replaced it with Internet and streaming news radio, which is bad because even glancing over Yahoo headlines, let alone clicking and reading (gods forbid), can affect my mood for hours. I now sort of 'squint' briefly at Internet front pages, and I try never to click on any link unless it is something that is directly important to my safety (think, storm warnings) or is likely to make me feel BETTER about life and humanity.

In addition, I have stopped listening to ANY politician or political partisan speak on tv or radio, no matter what the subject. I immediately mute any sound blurb (even of politicians I've voted for), since I already know what they are going to say in any given situation and having it confirmed just makes me more cynical.  I still try to listen to more objective analysis of news issues, such as shows featuring non-partisan academics, journalists, experts, etc. I also try to avoid any politically hot topic where calls from the public are solicited, because the stupidity frequently exhibited makes me want to go postal.

After about 1.5 years of this, I have realized I feel  a LOT better day to day.  Especially amazing is realizing that even with a complete news blackout lasting 3 or 4 months, I would rarely miss ANYTHING of real day-to-day importance in my life. Even GINORMOUS, BANDWIDTH-DEVOURING stories that go on for weeks and are deemed absolutely unmissable by the average person (e.g., ebola last year) have absolutely no importance for my life.

My criteria are: if it directly affects my immediate health and survival, I try to keep track. If it's vital for voting, I check in (99% of it isn't, because I already know my political positions on most issues). If it is something that I can actually ACT on, as opposed to just be anxious or rage-filled about, I might pay attention.

Otherwise, I'm working more and more on cultivating a sense of blissful semi-ignorance. It also helps me hate my species a bit less, which I view as a positive!

wenchsenior

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2015, 11:47:28 AM »
I've been cutting down too, and it's causing some tough decisions. I listen to Bill's Maher's show on podcast religiously (pun intended). I think he's hilarious and he tries to bring in intelligent, opposing viewpoints. But I think even this show is bad for me. It gets me all hyped up and indignant about the issues of the week, then drops me back into the real world irritated but without any real outlet to address those feelings. It's like informational blueballs.

"Informational blueballs" is BRILLIANT. That is exactly the term that captures how I feel about news in general anymore. Nearly all news makes me crazed with rage at my fellow man (and myself, since I'm a member of such a destructive species), and so rarely is there anything active that I can do to relieve the pressure, LOL.

Bardo

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2015, 11:53:54 AM »
There was a classic book written about this:  Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.  His theory is that news on television ultimately must be trash, since the constraints of the medium push it there (eg the requirement for visuals, short time segments, etc).  I took it to heart and have refused to watch news on tv for many years now.  Back when I had cable tv I programmed the remote to skip the "news" channels so I wouldn't even be briefly exposed. 

What amazes me is that people think that heavy exposure to news makes them better-informed and is therefore a good thing.  More like it makes them overly opinionated and needlessly fearful.

I haven't blacked out news entirely, but nothing broadcast is the rule.  Wenchsenior is correct that if anything important happens you will hear about it.  I also won't click on anything that is clickbait that is just designed to stir outrage of some sort ("Listen to what that awful politician said!").  I don't do outrage.

Cheers to the concept of "blissful semi-ignorance," the happy outcome of a low-information diet. 

Kaspian

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2015, 11:58:02 AM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

you missed the "coming up after the break (more fear and a promise of a cat story at some point)"

Wait you missed the third very important thing--we need an update on what Kanye West had for lunch.  (Then--more fear.)

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2015, 01:08:43 PM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.
I am exposed to substantial TV "news" at work, primarily Fox. I have concluded that the programming and the ads on that channel, and to a lesser degree, the others, function in a carefully designed synergy, which I've summarized for a year-plus as "live in fear, buy our shit".

Think about it: talking heads pontificate for a few minutes about Barack Hussein Obama's inflationary policies, then - cut to a smooth-talking guy in a suit with the perfect solution: BUY SOME FUCKING GOLD! The worst investment ever for a retiree! But it makes you feel so good, and it's the "perfect hedge against record-high stocks!" The Fonz would never lie to you! He's just your buddy from Happy Days!

Then we go back to another talking head lambasting the imminent demise of American healthcare - immediately followed by some fucking shill for an AARP-sponsored Medicare supplemental insurance plan!

I can't believe people don't see through this shit. It is so transparent and so clearly calculated to whip you up into a state of terror and then sell you a false sense of security, that it should be got-dam illegal.

slugline

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2015, 01:22:53 PM »
Out of curiosity, is the situation this poor in every country where television isn't state-controlled? Does TV inevitably dumb down the culture of every nation it touches, or is there a place where its introduction has managed to be mostly a positive development?

Cougar

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #19 on: June 30, 2015, 01:27:06 PM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

i would second this.

and most the commercials for news are drugs you should be taking for something silly like having restless legs or buy these assests because the economy is going to tank in 2 hours.


i recommend the glof channel as a substitute. everyone's happy and good looking, their commercials are all on really nice luxury stuff that a true mmm'er would never buy and no one brings up politics or any other civisive subject.

Mr Dumpster Stache

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2015, 01:34:52 PM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

i would second this.

and most the commercials for news are drugs you should be taking for something silly like having restless legs or buy these assests because the economy is going to tank in 2 hours.


i recommend the glof channel as a substitute. everyone's happy and good looking, their commercials are all on really nice luxury stuff that a true mmm'er would never buy and no one brings up politics or any other civisive subject.

Cooking channel! My credit union always has the cooking channel on.

MoneyCat

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #21 on: June 30, 2015, 01:35:49 PM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

i would second this.

and most the commercials for news are drugs you should be taking for something silly like having restless legs or buy these assests because the economy is going to tank in 2 hours.


i recommend the glof channel as a substitute. everyone's happy and good looking, their commercials are all on really nice luxury stuff that a true mmm'er would never buy and no one brings up politics or any other civisive subject.

I'm lucky because the primary sport I watch is soccer, so I tend to watch a lot of Spanish language over-the-air TV to see games.  I do not speak Spanish, so I have no fucking clue what the commercials are talking about.  It really helps cut down on my exposure to ads while watching sports.

forummm

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #22 on: June 30, 2015, 01:41:13 PM »
All news, as far as I can tell:

Fear! Fear! Fear! "Stay Tuned...." (Ad, Ad, Ad) Fear! Fear! Fear! (Ad, Ad, Ad). Repeat forever.

"Apolitical catastrophe porn" is the best description I've ever heard. Thanks for coining such an apt descriptor.

i would second this.

and most the commercials for news are drugs you should be taking for something silly like having restless legs or buy these assests because the economy is going to tank in 2 hours.


i recommend the glof channel as a substitute. everyone's happy and good looking, their commercials are all on really nice luxury stuff that a true mmm'er would never buy and no one brings up politics or any other civisive subject.

Cooking channel! My credit union always has the cooking channel on.

My dentist had house porn (HGTV) on last week.

Bardo

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #23 on: June 30, 2015, 05:04:18 PM »
Out of curiosity, is the situation this poor in every country where television isn't state-controlled? Does TV inevitably dumb down the culture of every nation it touches, or is there a place where its introduction has managed to be mostly a positive development?

I don't think that it's a question of the country, it's the nature of the medium.  Television is great for entertainment, but poorly suited to anything serious.  TV news will always and inevitably be dumbed down, because serious topics can't really be adequately addressed in a purely visual manner in short bursts.  When they make me king of the world I would ban all serious content from television and leave it to focus on entertainment, then all would be well.

As an aside, and someone please correct me on this if it is not the case, but isn't teevee "news" mainly produced for and watched by old people?  I had the impression that young people had mainly moved on from passively having it recited by television newsreaders.


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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #24 on: June 30, 2015, 05:10:48 PM »
Out of curiosity, is the situation this poor in every country where television isn't state-controlled? Does TV inevitably dumb down the culture of every nation it touches, or is there a place where its introduction has managed to be mostly a positive development?

I don't think that it's a question of the country, it's the nature of the medium.  Television is great for entertainment, but poorly suited to anything serious.  TV news will always and inevitably be dumbed down, because serious topics can't really be adequately addressed in a purely visual manner in short bursts.  When they make me king of the world I would ban all serious content from television and leave it to focus on entertainment, then all would be well.


I don't think that's necessarily true. I would attribute it more to corporate for-profit television.  There are a number of public stations, including state-run ones like the BBC, that have excellent reputations for bringing serious news.  It's just that when stations are more interested in gaining eyeballs for ad revenue and therefore competing with BS idiot box TV that they are more likely to produce crap to titillate their audiences.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #25 on: June 30, 2015, 05:27:09 PM »
My in-laws are similar in leaving the TV on all the time. I didn't even know you could fill an entire day with football... And they typically don't mute commercials either, which drives me crazy. At least in my family growing up commercials would be muted or more often fast-forwarded (my dad recorded a lot of things to watch later).

I've never had TV service and I think I'm happier that way. I also figured out a few years ago that reading Google News headlines was actively sabotaging my happiness as every day was filled with terrible events from around the world. So I stopped.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #26 on: June 30, 2015, 05:36:16 PM »
Out of curiosity, is the situation this poor in every country where television isn't state-controlled? Does TV inevitably dumb down the culture of every nation it touches, or is there a place where its introduction has managed to be mostly a positive development?
I cannot speak for every developed country, but here are my impressions of what the lineup looks like in the 3 other countries I have lived in long enough to be exposed to it:

- Britain: the BBC is fantastic and a national treasure. Great political programs and news commentary. The private broadcast channels are mostly for entertainment, and ITV is slowly but surely catching up with US networks in terms of interruptions. Sky news (the news channel of the largest pay TV bundle) is meh and you can sometimes hear Rupert Murdoch whispering in their anchors' ears, but nothing too outrageous.
- Germany: very good news coverage, and generally try to keep out of expressing opinions one way or another. Sometimes it feels like a giant documentary that just happens to have been filmed today. Very little sensationalism.
- France: most of the country watches one of the two 8pm news program that runs for 30 minutes. They do a good job of showing what's going on in the world, but the second part of the 30 mn program is usually about cultural or everyday life stuff. Political debates are of high quality.

American TV is fantastic at producing drama series and entertainment programsm, but news coverage is a disaster. There are a few times where I am satisfied with the level of analysis, usually around formal events like the State of the Union, or election broadcasts where everyone is one their best behavior. The vast majority of the broadcasts however is not worth the air they travel through.

badger1988

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #27 on: June 30, 2015, 05:46:22 PM »
I get all my news from Anthony Crispino.

forummm

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #28 on: June 30, 2015, 05:50:13 PM »
Just read the New York Times or some other good print journalism. McClatchy, ProPublica, etc. You'll actually learn something.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #29 on: June 30, 2015, 06:09:13 PM »
I don't watch the news for just this reason.

The only time I watch is live coverage of minor snow storms. Nothing like the man on the street interview with people freaking out over 2 inches of snow.

Annamal

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #30 on: June 30, 2015, 06:22:53 PM »
Out of curiosity, is the situation this poor in every country where television isn't state-controlled? Does TV inevitably dumb down the culture of every nation it touches, or is there a place where its introduction has managed to be mostly a positive development?
I cannot speak for every developed country, but here are my impressions of what the lineup looks like in the 3 other countries I have lived in long enough to be exposed to it:

- Britain: the BBC is fantastic and a national treasure. Great political programs and news commentary. The private broadcast channels are mostly for entertainment, and ITV is slowly but surely catching up with US networks in terms of interruptions. Sky news (the news channel of the largest pay TV bundle) is meh and you can sometimes hear Rupert Murdoch whispering in their anchors' ears, but nothing too outrageous.
- Germany: very good news coverage, and generally try to keep out of expressing opinions one way or another. Sometimes it feels like a giant documentary that just happens to have been filmed today. Very little sensationalism.
- France: most of the country watches one of the two 8pm news program that runs for 30 minutes. They do a good job of showing what's going on in the world, but the second part of the 30 mn program is usually about cultural or everyday life stuff. Political debates are of high quality.

American TV is fantastic at producing drama series and entertainment programsm, but news coverage is a disaster. There are a few times where I am satisfied with the level of analysis, usually around formal events like the State of the Union, or election broadcasts where everyone is one their best behavior. The vast majority of the broadcasts however is not worth the air they travel through.

I don't watch TV as a rule but I have the impression that Al Jazeera is pretty good with in depth reporting ( I also have the impression that thay poached a good chunk of BBC talent when they set up which might explain things).

The main channels here in New Zealand have a reputation for not being so great but I think that Maori TV is quite good

I have been really impressed by John Oliver's 15 minute pieces on HBO,  they seem to have a knack for finding interesting information and seem to genuinely make use of researchers. It's still very much entertainment but it is impressive nonetheless.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #31 on: June 30, 2015, 08:35:33 PM »
News suck. Everytime I watch it, it's always the same crap "Somewhere in some arab country, there was a bombing"....followed by "Woman got raped..." followed by "A child has suicide because of bullying"....geez, so depressing, if you watch the news everyday, you will notice it's the same stories from different people and they always repeat the same crap. I don't call it the news, I call it the BAD news.

vern

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #32 on: June 30, 2015, 09:57:30 PM »
Network news is fun to watch just to see all of the newest erection drug commercials.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #33 on: July 01, 2015, 12:44:11 AM »


It was apolitical catastrophy porn. And because this house has paper thin walls, I cannot escape it.

You're right, but what bugs me even worse is the commercials that air during the news. Boner pills. Cholesterol pills. Diabetic supplies. Pills for depression. The world is a disaster, but Big Pharma fixes everything. Apparently.

ahoy

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #34 on: July 01, 2015, 03:20:08 AM »
Yeah.... I don't watch the news on our tube TV either.  I guess this started when my kids were young, not appropriate.  TV advertising drives me insane.  Someone else mentioned they mute the ads, I do that as well (I thought I was the only one).  Other people i.e family think this is weird.

The knitter

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #35 on: July 01, 2015, 05:39:11 AM »
It's a cycle. People want to watch mindless, frantic news, so stations produce more of it to increase eyeballs. Click bait headlines are here because people click on them.

There is lots of good, serious, in-depth, contextual news coverage out there (mostly text based, not on television). If you close yourself off to all news because the generic "news media" is the cause of all of society's problems, you are no better off than if you watch garbage news on television all day.

If you want to encourage more serious and fair news, I'd say seek out a source you respect and support it through your subscription or donation. Otherwise, you'll add to the problem you have noted by allowing the real journalism to die.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #36 on: July 01, 2015, 05:53:41 AM »
CNN is great for learning what random people are tweeting about wildfires, floods and crime trials.  I just wish there were some source where I could directly get these tweets without having to wait for the CNN anchors to read them to me.

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #37 on: July 01, 2015, 08:26:10 AM »
Try watching Charlie Rose.   Few commercials,  in depth discussions, brilliant host.

zephyr911

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #38 on: July 01, 2015, 10:31:52 AM »
LIVE IN FEAR! BUY OUR SHIT!

infogoon

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #39 on: July 01, 2015, 11:43:49 AM »
"And here's a moderately attractive woman reading the same shit your wingnut friend from high school posted on Facebook three hours ago."

Annamal

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #40 on: July 01, 2015, 02:31:26 PM »
This seemed an appropriate thread for two british comedy songs

Stay Afraid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTM0ZLj2xMI

and

I read it in the daily mail(which I admit is a newspaper but taps into the same fears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI

Spud

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #41 on: July 02, 2015, 12:04:31 AM »
"And here's a moderately attractive woman reading the same shit your wingnut friend from high school posted on Facebook three hours ago."

I nearly fell off my chair with laughter reading this. It's so true.

Twitter is now how I get all of my news.

How exactly? I sit at work and then a colleague who actually has a Twitter account runs into the office and says:

"OMG, have you like heard about the natural distaster/political situation/terrible crime/funny animal story/change in the law/government inefficiency/how hot it's going to be next week?"

That's all I need to stay informed. Let some other poor person read it all and then just give me the summary.

--------

If you want to see bad news, check out the Daily Mail website from the UK. It's worse than TV news. It's just sheer information overload and 100% of it is pointless and noon-actionable for the reader. I'm also astounded by the amount of pointless celebrity gossip that now qualifies as "news".

I was going to post a link but I've decided not to in order to protect people from what is a bunch of FEAR/CHAOS/PAIN/SUFFERING/PANIC/MADNESS.

Annamal

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #42 on: July 02, 2015, 12:31:14 AM »

If you want to see bad news, check out the Daily Mail website from the UK. It's worse than TV news. It's just sheer information overload and 100% of it is pointless and noon-actionable for the reader. I'm also astounded by the amount of pointless celebrity gossip that now qualifies as "news".

I was going to post a link but I've decided not to in order to protect people from what is a bunch of FEAR/CHAOS/PAIN/SUFFERING/PANIC/MADNESS.

Check the youtube song I linked to for a decent summation of the daily mail (you'll get cancer from everything and also immigrants are terrifying)

Manguy888

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #43 on: July 02, 2015, 05:29:11 AM »
I'm loving this thread. I think I might try reading just the Economist and the New Yorker for a few weeks and see where that leaves me. New Yorker gives me deep dives and top notch writing, which is important to me. And the Economist covers an amazing amount of the world in their weekly - only thing they don't like about them is that they write like they're having a polite argument that they've already won, and they seem to think we're still living at the height of british colonialism

wenchsenior

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #44 on: July 02, 2015, 07:36:29 AM »
I'm loving this thread. I think I might try reading just the Economist and the New Yorker for a few weeks and see where that leaves me. New Yorker gives me deep dives and top notch writing, which is important to me. And the Economist covers an amazing amount of the world in their weekly - only thing they don't like about them is that they write like they're having a polite argument that they've already won, and they seem to think we're still living at the height of british colonialism

Economist is the only print news I ever buy, though typically only when I'm traveling by plane (which is about 3 or 4 times per year). That is a great description!

On the appalling end of the spectrum: Huffington Post (which I used to visit back in my pre-Internet news blackout days). I swear, it gets worse every year.

LiveLean

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #45 on: July 02, 2015, 10:01:02 AM »
We have two TVs in our house, which is two too many.

Spent four days last week out-of-state shuttling between my in-laws two-bedroom apartment (three TVs) and my sister-in-law's family, which has three TVs in their finished basement suite alone and at least 10 total in the house.

Not once was I out of earshot of a TV -- except when I went for a four-hour hike on one of the countless beautiful mountain trails just north of where they live in the north Atlanta 'burbs.

They couldn't understand why I didn't want to hang around the house and "be social," which apparently means sitting in front of TVs while staring at phones and tablets.


Mikhial

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #46 on: July 02, 2015, 10:15:07 AM »
To the people who abstain from news altogether, what are your thoughts on public radio like NPR? No ads or pundits, but they will inform you of the horrible things happening in the world.

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vhalros

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #47 on: July 02, 2015, 10:15:46 AM »
I once imagiend that, with the increasing number of different news sources, we would see more in depth stories about actual problems. Something like what Nightline used to be before Ted Kopple left, but better. Instead, it some how turned into a race to be first with the obvious, and endless repetition and over-analysis of whatever is trending that day.

DecD

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #48 on: July 02, 2015, 10:32:45 AM »
I once imagiend that, with the increasing number of different news sources, we would see more in depth stories about actual problems. Something like what Nightline used to be before Ted Kopple left, but better. Instead, it some how turned into a race to be first with the obvious, and endless repetition and over-analysis of whatever is trending that day.

The fact that "what is trending" is a meaningful phrase is indicative of the problem.  Trending.  ugh.

KisKis

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Re: Can I just complain about the F**king news for a second??
« Reply #49 on: July 02, 2015, 10:43:08 AM »
To the people who abstain from news altogether, what are your thoughts on public radio like NPR? No ads or pundits, but they will inform you of the horrible things happening in the world.

I enjoy NPR quite a bit, and often tune in when I am driving.  I appreciate their format, and I do feel like it is much more educational than the loud noises, flashy lights main stream tv news designed for ADD viewers.  It definitely makes me realize I have aged.  I still remember groaning when my parents turned the car radio to NPR. 

I also have emailed google alerts running for local news stories, so I can stay informed on things that may be discussed at work.