Operation Black Out
This morning I was flipping around like I do every morning trying to find something news-ish to watch that didn’t suck and I had an epiphany of sorts.
But first, I just have to say that I cannot stand the Today Show and especially Al Roker. There’s something about him that really bugs me. I also can’t stand how the FOUR hosts stand around and make lame chit chat with each other in the street. We’re supposed to find this entertaining?
But I digress.
I’ve been in a really down mood lately. It started a few weeks ago when I had a total meltdown one night when we were watching the late news. I just started crying about how much I hate the world; that if I had to hear one more story about a molested, kidnapped, raped or murdered child or woman or scuzzy pedophiles or a school shooting or genocide in Darfur or global warming or the impending extinction of yet another species or animal cruelty or child abuse or political corruption or the war…my head would explode. (To be fair, I would get my period a couple hours later and I can be nearly certifiable when I’m premenstrual)
I just find myself unable to be happy lately because of, I believe, a barrage of bad news that I can’t seem to escape. I can’t take anymore. I feel like the boy in that fairy tale The Snow Queen. He gets a piece of glass or something in his eye and from that point on, he can only see the negative things in the world.
So my epiphany, as I was looking for something decent to watch, was that I just need to bury my head in the sand for a while. As much as I like knowing what’s happening in the world, I have decided, for the sake of my mental health, to cut out all news except for NPR Morning Edition (because it’s always playing on my clock radio when I get up). I will not be reading the paper or watching the news on TV and I’ve removed all news links from my Google start page. This will be my new home page.
So what do you think? Can watching too much bad news depress people? Or do I just need some good meds?
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On a completely unrelated note, there’s a new post up over at Props and Pans where I discuss a product I was asked to sample. Go check it out if you get a chance :)
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Oh, lord YES, I think it’s a great idea!!!
I, for one, cannot STAND (and refuse to watch) the news. It’s just like any other show…they’re doing stories only because they will get people scared/sad/freaked out because that’s what get ratings. They’re competing to see who can have the most shocking news…it’s crap.
That’s NOT just ‘how the world is’ - it’s just what the stations want to report on.
Take a break from it, honey. I say it’d do everyone a bit of good to see the world out the window instead of off a show that looks a little too much like “World’s Scariest Videos”. No wonder America is in a collective depression.
Go outside. Breathe. :)
Ditto Chase - she’s absolutely right about the news, whether it’s print media or the national networks.
A good book that may cheer you up somewhat (in the “it’s not as bad as we sometimes think” sense) - The Culture of Fear, by Barry Glassner.
And frankly, with all the Spongebob we watch, there’s no time for the news. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
What news I get is from the newspaper - and I do my best not to read the terrible stories (the worst ones are the random accidents in other cities that show up as a small box one day with no follow-up, no word on whether the child in “critical condition” survived or not).
I remember reading once about an isolated tribe that was exposed to radio for the first time. (I don’t know if this is really a true story, but it was memorable for me, and instructive.) They heard a news story about a natural disaster and everybody started packing up - it just seemed obvious to them that they had to head to where the disaster was and start helping. There is a learned passivity that comes from hearing so many terrible stories and being able to help in so few of them. Turning away from the news may actually make you more able to offer help in the situations where you actually can make a difference.
I can totally understand. Honestly, I taught school in some really rough places but never have I seen as much as we see on tv now. I went to check my cousin out earlier today, they front door was locked. They had to let me in, a person from the school had to actually open the door for me. It is sad, sad sad. A sad state of affairs and it kills me! You hit the nail on the head, just avoid the news is what I keep telling myself too.
I’m with Bub and Pie. I’ve got the headlines on the school shootings and stuff, but I just can’t go there. It just fills me with despair and agony. I can’t bear all that and go on with the business of parenting well.
yes. because THAT IS ALL THE NEWS TALKS ABOUT. it’s never about happy stuff. it’s always about BAD THINGS that are happening. AND, i think it’s the time of year- it seems like everyone is unhappy, moody, and miserable. probably because winter is coming and it’s a full moon tomorrow, and well.. i dunno? lol
absofuckinglutely. I fade in and out of awareness. Sometimes I’m intensely aware of the latest happenings in our insane social setting, and sometimes, I’m la-dee-da-ing b/c I haven’t poked my head out of my wee hidey-hole in a month or more.
I think that whatever we each have to do to survive the day is — well, it’s what we have to do.
my two pfenigs.
Yes, yes, yes. Too much bad news does result in overload. I think it’s doubly hard to be a mother and then hear about other mother’s children being molested, tortured, murdered, or suffering in some way.
I listen to NPR a lot, and there was a time about four or so years ago when every evening All Things Considered would lead off with a news story about a suicide bomber in Israel/Palestine. Every. Damn. Day! My daughter was a baby then, and I was sick of all the devastation. Daily bombings, my god. I can’t even imagine living like that! Sending your kids to school amid strife, trying to put together dinners, trying to stay calm all day while just wanting your family back together again.
So yeah, take a break from it. It’s hard to stomach all the horribleness out there. You shouldn’t have to. Hang in there, read Happy News. Nothing wrong with that for a while.
Some days I think ignorance would be bliss. I think my brain needs exercise though, and to me not knowing about the world is scarier than knowing. Also? I’m PMSsing and it’s a full moon. Not such a great combo.
Oh Izz *hugs* Sorry to hear you’re feeling down. I take my news in small doses (on-the-hour updates when I listen to public radio). But I do take a news break once in awhile. It’s the best thing you can do for mental health.
PS: I can’t stand Al Roker, either. His food network show irritates the snot out of me.
The Today Show and other morning shows are hardly news anyway.
This morning, the Memphis news apologized over and over for not showing the the Today Show wedding. There were major fires in downtown Memphis - real news, important news - and they were apologizing for not showing the Today Show wedding.
I hate how the local news channels advertise and then cut to commercial with scare tactics. “Could breathing the air in your home kill your baby?” “Can water cause cancer?” “Will our airports be attacked by Canada?” Whatever. The answer to the scares is usually probably “no,” but they have planted the idea in your head anyway.
The suggestion of fear is supposed to leave us dependent on them I think. Instead, it makes me think that morons are producing news shows now. I like getting news from the internet because I can choose what stories I click on and which ones I skip. Often, there are weeks that go by that I click on none of them.
i think watching ANY news these days is depressing..either it’s rhetoric, or gore, or just plain scary. I prefer to read, it seems less impactful than being assaulted with eyes and ears - but even then. it’s tough, there is a heck of a lot of good stuff going on, but it doesn’t make the news.
whoops..one more thing - and worse yet, none of this is new - Chomsky has been talking about the effects of media on controlling a population for years.
I think Michael Moore was right on this one–scary news makes scared people, and scared people do bad and stupid things. Let’s assume happynews will do the opposite. I for one am hooked.
And what is WITH the network news banter?? Get me a censor for that and I might watch the news once in a while.
If there’s nothing else to watch, I’d watch CNN or Fox News…I know very depressing. But now that CNN has some crazy lady by the name of something Grace, I can’t stand her one bit…so I don’t watch news any more. So, it’s either HGTV or FOOD network now, if there’s nothing to else to watch.
I am always the last to know anything because I never watch news or read papers. I get my news from other people.
I quit my job as a news producer at MSNBC (LA affiliate) soon after I was asked to write a story about a man who set himself and his dog on fire and then shot himself in the head with a double-barrel shot gun. Mintues later, I shifted gears into sleezy entertainment news mode and wrote a story about Pamela Anderson’s breast implant size reduction. The TV station I worked for actually zoomed in on the man when he was about to blow his head off and stayed with the shot long enough to capture his gruesome, suicidal end. My job in news made me miserable. I was way too much of a raw, exposed nerve ending to handle the negativity and pressure. I too am worried for my children’s future and wonder how I could be selfish enough to bring them into a world so violent, so out of whack. Now I have to try to supply them with the tools to navigate the madness and rise above the violence. Read my post about a shooting in the house next door to us and a rape on the college campus less than a mile from our house if you want to further depress mama yourself. Sorry. We’re all going through this. BTW, I added your blogger chicks code to my site. Thanks for sending it.
Post is Called Keep Your Bullets Outta’ My Bubble, Fool in Archives Sept. 20, 2006
Martstar…“Will our airports be attacked by Canada?”
LOL. Too funny.
Izzy - I haven’t watched the TV news for years and my diet is expanding - now I don’t have TV at all and have cancelled my 2 newspaper subscriptions this year as well (even though I still write features for the local paper - go figure).
I’ll never forget one time I was walking across the street from my job at the newspaper to get a Starbucks and a bad car crash happened right in front of me.
I called the photo editor to see if he wanted to send a photographer out.
“Is anyone dead?” he asked.
“There’s a lot of blood and a bunch of people are injured,” I said.
“Not good enough.”
That’s news for ya.
Why I never watch the news! Some may call me ignorant, but I am too mental to hear abut all the problems out there…other than the ones in my very own bean.
I watch local news when I need to..that’s it.
I’m sorry you’re so bummed. Sometimes it’s all you can do to shut out the world and focus on your personal, more immediate dramas. You’re welcome to come over and hide under my rock. I’d love the company.
Now, I know it’s not the point, but I totally agree with you about Al Roker. First he has gastric bypass surgery and then signs on with the Food Network to travel the country and eat barbeque. What a perfect message to send out to morbidly obese America. Furthermore, anytime I see him on a food show, I imagine him stepping off camera and throwing up because there’s no more room in his stomach.
Now he just looks like a giant bobble-head doll of himself.
I agree and have done the same thing. I feel like a nerd getting rid of the news–we don’t even take a paper–but I got tired of things that weren’t really even news, just sensational tabloid stories. When the local paper ran a full page color-photo spread on a new porn shop opening in town–like it’s a great thing for the community and how happy we should all be–I finally cancelled the subscription. Anything really important I can find on my MSN feeds, but even when I check those daily they’re not that important half the time.
Oh yeah. Watching bad news definitely brings you down. Way, way down. I try to watch it in small chunks so I don’t feel obligated to watch an entire program.
I try not to watch the news anymore. It depresses me.
Bless you for your concern for Darfur.
Several of us have decided to begin a RESCUE DARFUR FAST. One of us began 5 days ago, and several others today. Links below for the details.
Nothing less than a worldwide fast-until-the-genocide-stops will be enough to stop it.
Nothing less will be a sufficient moral response.
Nothing less will preserve our humanity, yours and mine.
Please consider linking (below) to increase the visibility of this effort.
Jay McGinley jymcginley@cs.com
Day 134 Darfur Vigil at White House; Day 68 Rescue Darfur Fast (since July 4, 2006)
DARFUR Dying for Heroes (you would find this a helpful resource)
Stand With Darfur-White House II
Please consider linking here to increase the visibility of this effort.
http://darfurdyingforheroes.blogspot.com
http://darfurdyingforheroes.blogspot.com/2007/09/join-rescue-darfur-fa st-till-it-stops.html
Geesh, what a change of pace. I’m going to disagree with you and most of your commenters. I think it’s a citizen’s duty to keep up with what’s going on in the world. If you vote (and I sure hope you all do, else you have NO business complaining about what we’re now stuck with), how can you make an informed decision unless you know what’s going on.
Yes, local news can be all gunshots and stabbings, but it doesn’t have to be. As an activist, it’s your responsibility, all of you, to let the news programs in your local area know that you can’t stand all the negative news. In my city we have one blood and guts station, and two that aren’t. I never watch the blood and guts news because they always feature all the shootings and stabbings first, before the paltry 5 minutes of world news. But that’s not true of the other stations, mostly because there were such complaints when the news started leaning that way.
The other reason I disagree is because it sets a terrible example for children to have parents who are completely separated from the world news. It says that American is right in all it does, because how can you disagree when you don’t know what’s going on? It says that it’s OK to be elitist and to ignore the third world. I believe differently, that we’re world citizens and we have to work for change all over the world. Darfur is but one example.
People that don’t read newspapers and watch news don’t know what Darfur is. They’ve never heard of the Sudan. Insulating yourself, IMO, from tragedy and pain separates you from the rest of the world. How can you care about things you don’t even know about?
I’m a newsaholic and proud of it. I even blogged about this a few weeks back, because it irks me no end when people are PROUD of maintaining ignorance about the world.
I know that’s NOT you, Izzy, and I know that you are taking a break, which you probably need right now. But please, stay informed. Listen to NPR if the images bother you. But don’t stray away from the world. We ALL need each other to make changes!
I’ve pushed CNN totally off my bookmarks and I don’t watch the news. I just tell my friends to tell me when there’s something big I should know about.
Me too!!
too much bad news it totally depressing. im taking a global sociology class about all the fucked up shit in the world and i walk out totally down…
Boy is that all true. Working in the news as I did, was very depressing in that all that stuff is what got on the front page. “if it bleeds it leads,” they say in the news biz.
Lisa
I cannot watch the news or read it on a regular basis. I find it really resonates with me and I get very broody, to the point of the despair you so well described. Thanks for the link to Happy News. We need that.
At the risk of being bashed here — I currently work in the TV news biz.
I understand how you feel about alot of news coverage being “gloom and doom,” and can also relate to crying over stories, especially those involving children and tragedy. Still, I’m proud of my profession and the news I cover (which granted, is mostly political or health and safety related.)
A colleague and I started News Moms — a blog where we give parents extra info on pertinent stories we feel you should know about it. (I will admit that sometimes we are self-indulgent and talk about ourselves.)
Perhaps we could be your alternative?
News Mom V.
I’m really surprised at your readers. No one commentor said what needed to be said here. Drugs are AWESOME. Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor, Lexapro, chew ‘em like candy and it’ll take the edge off. Works for me. Now I just have to stay away from Discovery Health. No amount of SSRI’s can stop me from crying while watching that network.
Drugs are bad.
Wisdom is good.
Women are emotional. I know, I am one. My husband is my protector… he reads the news and lets me know what I need to know. I am safe under his protection and I trust him. News reporting is all sensational… “Let’s get people in an uproar about something!” (Let’s make money!) Can we do anything about another voilent act on someone a thousand miles away? Let’s take care of our own children and their friends and our friends, while our husbands protect us from the media!
I’m sorry, did Willma just suggest that we let our HUSBANDS tell us what we need to know about the news? I can’t even comment after that.
Sorry you’re bummed sweetie, if it’s any consolation, I am forcing myself to go see a new doctor and admit that I need anti-depressants. And not just because of the miserable state of the world we live in, either.
Without a doubt! It’s all so negative, and what good does it do you to hear about it all? Granted, there are things we need to know but the majority of it is garbage. Overzealous scare tactics, there are better ways to raise awareness. I use bloglines, that way I can hear about the things I find most important without having to crawl through the myriad of junk.
I stopped watching the local evening news quite a while ago. I felt like I was watching people who had terrible things happen to them being exploited for TV ratings. It felt like I was watching reality TV. That is not news and yes, it is damn depressing. We don’t need that.
I also can’t stand watching the talking heads on cable news. Ugh.
Not that you asked, but…my news faves are The Jim Lehrer(sp?) Report on PBS, Democracy Now on LinkTV (do you have this station? it’s fantastic) and The Daily Show (for comic relief). I don’t watch these every day, but when I watch the news, this is where I get it from. Most of the rest of the news seems like entertainment, exploitation and sensationalism. It’s depressing and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
And, yes, I totally agree that taking a news fast is a good idea. Take a break and read up on Madonna’s efforts. You’ll feel better soon :)
First of all, I like the idea of “Happy News”…great concept. Our world could use more inspirational stories and good cheer.
Unfortunately, the media just puts out the bad stuff all the time and there is a reason: there is a large market of people who want the bad news. There must be, or it wouldn’t be the thing that sells papers or sells air time for advertisers. It is sad, but true. I do watch some news because I do like to stay informed about current events. But, I only watch enough to know what is going on….not the “spin” that is put on sensationalizing bad stuff.
I watch bad news at night so I can torture myself and not be able to sleep.
Eeeeek! I can’t read your comments because the paragraphs keep blinking and bouncing to the left hand margin! I never watch television for news because I think it is all marketing as well. Marketing appeals to fears, voyeurism, hatreds, anxieties and righteous wrath.
I get my news from the net. It is still filled with garbage but I am in control of what I encounter. Part of the problem for me is that the bad news is never something I can do anything about. That encourages me to fell helpless and overwhelmed. I refuse to let them play with my head.
It’s hard to keep it all in perspective, especially when people from all sides keep talking about media spin. I pretty much stick to PBS for evening news, C-Span, tune in to the local channels for weather and I get the rest from John Stewart. He brings some levity to it all.
I love the “Happy News” site.
“Today Show” How funny! I never did understand those shows. Now, if they had a Monkey for a co-host, maybe I would watch.
As for the news, I just can’t watch anymore. It was making me too paranoid. I just scan the headlines on occasion on the internet. It’s not as bad as the TV news with their scary news.
I have a whole bunch of friends who are journalists for our national radio…
And a great deal of them are in radio. I find that radio is a far better medium to getting the news. It is beyond the flash and I know not of what the people are wearing, how old they are… I never watch television news…
I do not think I am missing out on anything… Except glamourizing pretty serious topics..
Stopped watching the crap years ago…and the only thing I read in the newspaper (which we don’t subscribe to, but others do) is the comics. As for other TV stuff….I stay away from shows that focus on that too. For me it’s about focusing on the positivity of Life, not the negative. I wouldn’t call a friend if all she had to talk about was her negative perspective, so why would I subject myself to through other ways?
BTW, found myself here through StephanieJ…she said I should visit your blog because I just wrote a blurb about my own battle with PPD.
I think you are making a great move by stopping with the local TV news. I stopped that some time ago and the world does become a prettier place. Thanks for the Happy news link and I’m way digging your new design. LOVE the antique halloween deco at the top!
oh and p.s. i’ve noticed lots of us “women-folk” are having some down feelings with the onset of fall.
OK, this is funny but I was looking over some notes of mine that I’d taken in the last couple weeks for blog posts and I wrote about this very topic and forgot all about it. I kid you not. I guess I have a short-term memory. So, if you see me posting on it sometime in the near future, don’t be surprised. I’ll be sure to give you some linkage though.
p.s. I know I had already commented on this post btw. My memory’s not THAT bad.
Thank you for confirming that Al Roker is annoying. I knew I wasn’t alone.
GMTA :)
Yeah, we watch a lot of HGTV and DIY. No dumb talking heads or horror stories save for the occasional bad decorating job or frighteningly disorganized spare bedroom lol
It is brutal to watch the news if you are a sensitive person. Something a therapist told me once that really stuck with me is that it helps a lot to detatch yourself from it. If you really feel you need to watch or read the paper, picture yourself floating over your body as you watch. I know it sounds hokey but it does work for me. Of course there is also over-saturation, when something really awful happens, I eventually just have to turn off the coverage.
I cannot watch the news on TV anymore. The images are too powerful and the stories chosen are too sensationalized. I keep up with the news via the web (WaPo online primarily and Reuters/AP feeds via Yahoo) and the radio (local news radio station). I am aware of the major stories going on in the country and the world, and can delve deeper into them if I’d like, but can avoid the ones whose headlines make it obvious that I’ll be disturbed. This works for me.
I am sorry you are feeling down, too. Hope you are feeling better soon.