I’ve pretty much stopped watching the news.
It’s become a manipulative tool to work one’s emotions, like a puppet master pulling the strings. Think of the spectrum of stories that are meant to twist you this way and then that.
Stories that promote outrage, like the George Floyd killing, or a video from a mass shooting of sobbing children to cause you great angst and sadness. Maybe they’ll hit you up with a clip of a displaced family after a fire destroyed their home and then a hospital scene, or another round of murder and mayhem, all before the next commercial.
Is this news or a blatant misuse of their power for profits?
Yes, these events are occurring. But as a producer for one of the major stations said, “If it bleeds, it leads!” This is simply a way to keep viewers from turning the channel.
I don’t know about you, but this is not the way I wish to begin or end my day.
I know the world is not rosy or perfect—and that murder and mayhem happen. But the news has become a steady diet of pent-up emotions and inner turmoil with no real practical outlet for what you’ve consumed. Empty calories that provide nothing of value, as it were. I guess it’s like potato chips which are hard to resist, salty, crunchy…and hard to stop eating.
As for me, I’ll pass.
