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I find that listening to a radio station that broadcasts news all day is 10x more depressing than any other way to get my news.
They tend to repeat the biggest headline over and over and over again. It gets depressing because violence and major downturns are what makes headlines.
We have a radio station here that is all news all day. My buddy listens to it while driving so he can hear if any highways should be avoided. The problem is that that one depressing headline event is mentioned over and over. He tells me that he hates watching the news at home on tv... well dude that's because you're depressed from hearing it in your vehicle all day long.
So yes stay informed ... but click on the news on the internet. I pick one major local news network and click on their site and only click on the topics that interest me. Pick and choose, then close and forget.
I'm not saying be apathetic (in fact that is worse). But be realistic in how much you can care because in reality you can't change the world.
Why would you do that? Listen to news all day? You can also read, use discrimination in what information you consume.
All points well taken. I avoid cable news that is all day every day with breaking news all the time. I listen to news and news programs that represent all sides with respect. Both PBS and NPR do that well. They are not all news but also interviews, programs. I also watch Face The Nation and Meet The Press on Sundays. I tape them. They ask the questions I want answers to.
I realize not all places get NPR or PBS. It is almost impossible to receive it almost anywhere in Alabama. That is a pity.
It is our responsibility to make sure we listen to all sides. Read reports.
The killings and denial of humanitarian aid is not cable news or entertainment. It is a tragedy that happening. That is not easy to brush off as propaganda.
If we dont read and listen and discriminate for ourselves we are subject to misinformation and outright lies. That is a harm we do to ourselves.
But you are not listening to Loadstar. You are simply taking from news whatever reinforces you preconceived notions and ignoring the rest. You aren't listening with an open mind but with a closed trap, if you will. You are then letting your emotions run wild and getting the best of you, and we see it in the posting activity in this forum.
"The human tendency to be emotionally driven can lead to a functional hijacking of the mind, she explained. In this state, people are susceptible to cognitive distortions—irrational patterns of thought that create a false picture of reality, potentially resulting in poor decision making, and feelings of panic and despair that can cause or worsen anxiety and depression."
It's not just NPR, FOX News, the AP etc. It's ALL of them. Every one of them pitches particular stories to the particular type of people who make up their audience. None of it is what one would term the truth, it's truth that is slanted to a certain mindset. Henry David Thoreau said that once you read a newspaper about one murder, one war, one rape and one robbery, you need not read another newspaper again as long as you live. It's just the same story over and over.
Much of it today is right out of Orwell's 1984. The "news" is designed to turn your reasoning mind off and flare up your unthinking emotions. People who reason things out will shy away from the way the news slants things and cherry picks information to fit their market. In most cases, none of it is even really news, it's simply editorial policy. No reporter or news writer gets one thing on the air or on the printed page w/o it first being run by an editor.
I stopped following the news somewhere between Russia's Invasion and the Middle East troubles because I just don't care (meaning we all got problems, why am I concerned about a stranger thousands of miles away?), and I know what we are getting is 100% suspect and unverifiable. None of it affects me, and none of it can be changed by me. I don't even read the local news where I live. Years ago I was sitting outside at a table at Bears Coffeehouse in Hilo, Hi when a patron threw the newspaper down in disgust and said, "Why am I reading this? I'm just going to go back to worrying about whether the surf is up or not". That's a good policy to stay sane and happy. Where I am, things are pretty good. They weren't always good like this, and they won't always be good like this, but right this moment it's fine. That's the reality.
Last edited by stephenMM; 11-06-2023 at 08:47 PM..
It is the effect the news, the images, that are having on us. My radio is mostly tuned to NPR and the discussion began when i started driving. More than anything else it is the children crying, screaming, asking for their parents, their family, images of them with bandages for their wounds, war wounds !, the babies, the hostages - 85 years old, but most of all the lost and traumatized and murdered children. It weighs heavily on me, I was moaning and crying and had to stop my car.
If the "news" / radio are bothering you, then shut it/them off.
I never listen or watch the "news", and I'm always happy. It doesn't mean I've shut out life - I've been around along enough to know of the problems of life - but I'm not letting other people's programming affect me. If you can't change people and conditions on the other side of the world, why let it get you unnecessarily down? There might be a reason why we're where we are, and they are where they are. Each person has to deal with the issues and problems where they are.
So many who are otherwise fortunate have their heads in different locations or different times (past or future), and neglecting and losing out on the present and what's around them. Lots of problems around us could be improved if our attention wasn't re-routed elsewhere.
A person certainly has tons of options these days for education and learning. But we need to determine our own approach and be in the driver's seat, rather than let others run the show. That's what people used to do in more productive days, before the circus (modern media) came to town. And let's not kid ourselves. It's not even news anymore; it's mostly emotional and cultural programming. See it for what it really is, and don't get pulled in and pulled down. Do you own research and learning.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 11-07-2023 at 03:43 AM..
She's already gone off the deep end I am afraid, looking at her activity in the "world" subforum.
Some people transform grief into sorrow, others into hate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
The Jews are the invaders, an invasion facilitated by the same white colonists who colonized the rest of the world and plundered and impoverished the people. ...
Not sure where to put this and this post is not about the news. It is the effect the news, the images, that are having on us.
I left my fitness class this morning, grateful for the hour of an intense work out, focusing on my breathing and counting, which took my mind off the news. My radio is mostly tuned to NPR and the discussion began when i started driving. More than anything else it is the children crying, screaming, asking for their parents, their family, images of them with bandages for their wounds, war wounds !, the babies, the hostages - 85 years old, but most of all the lost and traumatized and murdered children. It weighs heavily on me, I was moaning and crying and had to stop my car.
My religion tells me the world is unreal, and what is real is within, the only reality, the only truth. The emotions are unreal, they pass, hold on to the real, the centering spirit within. Meditating on this does help. How are you coping with this?
Sorry you are so affected by this. Anyone probably would, listening to this.
But you have a choice. You CHOSE to turn on the radio to listen to it. You may just as well choose NOT to listen to it.
Good catch Johnny, and others. Lots of people show them the way out, but they need the drama and pain. Instead of solutions, it's glorifying and digging in to what's wrong, and going no further.
It used to be called the "information age", but now should be relabelled the "misinformation rage".
Last edited by Thoreau424; 11-07-2023 at 11:03 AM..
Thank you all for your comments. I see how many have stopped listening to the news.
Personally I am not sure I would not want to know because it just saddens me so. But I think we should be bothered, we should be shocked, and should grieve for this human tragedy, both Israeli and Palestinian loss of lives. And all for what? This is not like some of the natural disasters that have wiped off entire communities, even towns. This is power play and greed at all costs.
I think we can be intelligent and selective in our source of information, knowing how easy it to be mislead and be misinformed.
One result of this war being waged is that now more people are getting informed. They are looking at maps, learning history, about ancient feuds and how low humanity can get. They are asking questions that they didn't even know they had before. And they demand answers.
No knowledge is wasted. It can make us better informed human beings who can affect change. I for one would not be voting for Biden and I will be writing letters. Democracy dies if people don't inform themselves and make choices.
Thank you all for your comments. I see how many have stopped listening to the news.
Personally I am not sure I would not want to know because it just saddens me so. But I think we should be bothered, we should be shocked, and should grieve for this human tragedy, both Israeli and Palestinian loss of lives. And all for what? This is not like some of the natural disasters that have wiped off entire communities, even towns. This is power play and greed at all costs.
I think we can be intelligent and selective in our source of information, knowing how easy it to be mislead and be misinformed.
One result of this war being waged is that now more people are getting informed. They are looking at maps, learning history, about ancient feuds and how low humanity can get. They are asking questions that they didn't even know they had before. And they demand answers.
No knowledge is wasted. It can make us better informed human beings who can affect change. I for one would not be voting for Biden and I will be writing letters. Democracy dies if people don't inform themselves and make choices.
You are welcome.
But you are now basically disregarding what everyone says and state that you will continue to be listening to the news to be "better informed", thus continuing with the cycle of grief that you are reaching out for help with in the first place. When one has to literally pull off the road and breaks out in tears, well it's obvious that it is effecting your life. There will always be misery and suffering in this world, yes you can vote and make your opinion heard but most of it is out of our control.
It's not only news that one needs to step away from, but social media, ripe with misinformation. There is also outright propaganda that bad actors in the world are excelling at. Much of it is designed to inflame and anger the reader, in turn it feeds on itself and the reader reaches out to another site to release that anger. We have debated in some of the forums, and I saw your posts get more extreme in antisemitism, repeating misinformation (not that I want to debate that topic here). But I pulled back when I saw you reaching out for help here. So you hear something on the news and jump onto CityData to post about it. It doesn't release your anger at all does it? It's unhealthy.
You have to help yourself. Disengage from the news AND social media.
I don't really watch the news that much. If I happen to watch it, it's because someone else is watching it - usually they bring me a bit down or I find them unimportant, but I don't really feel the grief. I usually prefer to focus on what happens in my surroundings more than globally, cause honestly, I got my own stuff to worry about and I worry enough as it is!
I guess I don't think about it that much, but I grew up in a house where we would watch the news and worry and fight about politic and stuff and I never really understood why we have to focus on that part. Each person can affect their surroundings and as long as I try to be a good enough person (in my eyes at least!), then I've affected the world in a positive way, despite not being informed as well as others.
I haven't voted in a long time and although I know it's kind of stupid or maybe I'm just lazy, but there are more ways to affect your surroundings than being actively involved (mind you this is not an advertisement against voting, just current situation).
I agree with what Johny Wadd said and if gathering all this negativity is enough to bring you to tears especially while driving, where you have to be focused and calm, it is affecting you negatively and it is in your hands to change it. It is important to be informed, so inform yourself about yourself and about grief and how to embrace it for what it is and not let it get ahold of your life.
OP, do you have this type of conversations with friends?
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