It was with a sense of amorphous relief that I heard my friend Dave say that he had pretty much stopped watching the news. Ahhh... I wasn't the only one. The epidemic, sweeping the world, the waxing and waning of transmitted illness. The ills inflicted here and inflicted there -- each pretty much the same and yet pretty different in particulars ... over and over and over again. My mind simply cannot process it all or, when it can, it gets lost as to what country or county or city or minority is involved ... or what good will come from processing it all.
Yesterday, I didn't watch TV at all.
I don't think, judging by the TV today, that I missed anything.
Dave has started watching reprise sporting matches -- tennis, football, baseball and the like -- in other years. As so have I. And movies from 20 years ago.
I am too busy feeling relieved to have company to feel guilty. It used to be that watching the news was part and parcel of my day. Now it is becoming the part and parcel of my not-day.
Moving backwards into game shows and B-movies and ... well, anything that claims little or no current turf. Being depressed or soddened with the "overcome" of it all ... well, why bother? The load is lighter when you unload the "ain't-it-awfuls?"
Yesterday, I didn't watch TV at all.
I don't think, judging by the TV today, that I missed anything.
Dave has started watching reprise sporting matches -- tennis, football, baseball and the like -- in other years. As so have I. And movies from 20 years ago.
I am too busy feeling relieved to have company to feel guilty. It used to be that watching the news was part and parcel of my day. Now it is becoming the part and parcel of my not-day.
Moving backwards into game shows and B-movies and ... well, anything that claims little or no current turf. Being depressed or soddened with the "overcome" of it all ... well, why bother? The load is lighter when you unload the "ain't-it-awfuls?"
“Contrary to the popular myth, ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand! When an ostrich senses danger and cannot run away, it flops to the ground and remains still, with its head and neck flat on the ground in front of it. Because the head and neck are lightly colored, they blend in with the color of the soil.”
ReplyDeletehttps://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/ostrich
There’s Fight. There’s Flight. Then there’s ... TV.
What we know as "television" has came a long way in less than 100 years.
ReplyDeleteEvery aspect has changed if not improved. Picture quality, broadcast methods, content. Change continues with internet streaming services. I can watch both Buddhist Masters and PhDs lecture about Buddhism, my wife takes "Master Classes" in writing.
While gaining an understanding of this most influential medium has never been in the top 10 on my to do list, it has been in the top 20% since college. It was sparked by one of my philosophy professors who held the strong opinion that Marshall McLuhan's work on understanding media was very important (Recall: "The Medium is the Message.")
Came across a web site discussing the time line of the Television. Unfortunately, it doesn't discuss content much.
https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-the-television/
The site does have some amusing nuggets:
"1963: For the first time in history, television surpasses newspapers as an information source. In a poll this year, 36% of Americans found TV to be a more reliable source than print, which was favored by 24%."
"1979: Some people believe it’s the “beginning of the end for TV” as a poll indicated that 44% of Americans were unhappy with current programming and 49% were watching TV less than what they did a few years earlier."
"1980: Ted Turner launches Cable News Network (CNN), a channel devoted to showcasing news 24 hours a day."
"1993: At the start of 1993, 98% of American households owned at least one TV, with 64% owning two or more sets."
Reading your comments on the current state of TV News reminds me how important it is to actively manage one's information and entertainment intake
I never agreed with that 1963 TV News assessment. But Edward R Murrow had died during my Middle School Years. We no longer have a Newscaster of Walter Cronkite's stature.
Streaming services introduced binge watching which has changed the way many now view TV shows. (Although years ago when I broke my foot and couldn't work for several weeks I bought the entire set of DVD's of "Deep Space Nine" and rewatched the entire show.)
Recently I've seen that some news shows can be binged watched as well.
What i dont like is that in any give 24 hour period all the cable news shows mainly focus on the same 3 or 4 issues and only superficially.