An experiment for you...

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to:

• Stop watching the news.
• Stop reading the news.
• Avoid news in any form, from any source.

Up until about a year ago I was a bit of a news addict. I'd put on BBC News 24 when eating my lunch, I'd watch the news at 6pm, 10pm, Newsnight, etc.

But then I stopped. Why? Because I'd long had this feeling that it's all controlled, propaganda, spin. They tell you what they want you to know, in a way that suits them. They'll cover something incessantly for a couple of weeks, then get bored with it and move on to something else. If the previous week's topic was so important, why just drop it?

Sometimes the news is hard to avoid, but I can honestly tell you that I know of only a few things that have happened in the world in the last 12 months, (outside the Apple scene!) and do you know what? I'm happy with that.

I'd encourage you to give it a go. You'll probably find yourself drawn to the news for the first week or so – but resist, and after a while you might just find that you don't miss it at all.

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this.

My roommate works for a news station, it's absurd the spins they throw on every single story they cover.

It's all up to whoever is in charge.

THis is why I stopped watching the news in the first place. I can't stand it. It's all mediated propaganda. It twists and warps people into think that "that" stuff is actually real. It is to some extent, but it's blown right out of proportion. And me being an analytical person, it bothers me to see this happen.

IMHO, I think news is just a "interpertation" of what they think happened. This is the same with guitar tabs - some of the time you can find a tab that is 100% correct. However most of the tabs that you get are 85%-95% correct - BUT you can get the overall point of the song.

I don't watch the news, etc. that often myself but I know what is going on in the world for the most part and I am pretty satisified with it.

I don't think the fact that news always has some kind of "spin" on it will ever change - as long as you get the main idea of what happened then I'm fine with that.

I used to be a huge news junkie. I'd listen to news radio while I was at work and driving, and then I'd watch the cable news, while checking out the internet news sites. It was mostly about political things, and I felt it was great because I was 'in the know' about most of the things my friends weren't. But I started noticing differences in the way most stories were reported, depending on who was paying the bills for that particular network. I don't need GE, Viacom, or Newscorp to tell me how to think about any particular issue. I guess I'm relegated to learning about world events when they effect me, but I've found that I'm not worrying so much about impending doom.

I used to watch the news all the time. I stopped right after the invasion of Irak, I was disgusted with the whole scene.

I don't often watch the news, either. I'll catch a glimpse of the headlines online and read what interests me, but I certainly don't make it a point to read about everything, especially politics - double especially the war in Iraq. I'm not 100% for nor against it, but I don't think you get 100% straight info anywhere on that subject, mainly because a lot of decisions that seem absurd to us are made with a valid reason - with information the general public isn't privy to.

MartinS said:

Because I'd long had this feeling that it's all controlled, propaganda, spin. They tell you what they want you to know, in a way that suits them. They'll cover something incessantly for a couple of weeks, then get bored with it and move on to something else. If the previous week's topic was so important, why just drop it?

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This is exactly why I don't watch the news regularly, and I take what I do watch with a grain of salt.

MartinS said:

(outside the Apple scene!)

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This same idea goes for the Apple/Mac rumor sites, too. :black:
This is why I pay no attention to them. They tell you what you want to hear, they are never substantiated, copious amounts of spin are added to the stories, and basically they are all rubbish... not unlike the nightly news.

I have tried as hard as I can to not even flip through the channels when the news is on because I am sick of hearing about the bears and colts going to the super bowl and that happens to be all they talk about on the news. I am pretty much at the midpoint between indianapolis and chicago and I am definitely not a fan of either team.

As for the reading the news, I only read the paper to get to the crossword.

I just hate how they sensationalize everything on the news. It's like no matter what it is, it's a big deal.

michaelstumpf said:

As for the reading the news, I only read the paper to get to the crossword.

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Come off it! We know you do the Jumble also!

iSebastianGrey said:

Come off it! We know you do the Jumble also!

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As a matter of fact there is no jumble. It only has a crossword, cryptoquip and sudoku. I'm no good at the cryptoquip and don't care for the sudoku so I only do the crossword.

Stuff mentioned in this thread sounds a lot like V for Vendetta... Great movie, by the way. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

i stopped watching the news regularly years ago. i'm neurotic (anecdotally) and depressed (clinically) enough without that stimulus.

i will occasionally check the news sites, and listen to mpr/npr (which has a much more calming effect than anything else). and i do watch the daily show pretty often.

eric said:

i stopped watching the news regularly years ago. i'm neurotic (anecdotally) and depressed (clinically) enough without that stimulus.

i will occasionally check the news sites, and listen to mpr/npr (which has a much more calming effect than anything else). and i do watch the daily show pretty often.

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The Daily Show is probably the only news show worth watching. I did like it better with Craig Kilborn, but Jon Stewart does alright.

Fox news is my home page so I check it out every morning (somewhat addicted). However, I rarely open up any of the articles or watch the videos. I'd rather get on to the forum to read the comments about Mac, much more interesting.
BTW, all we'll be hearing for the next year is about the "crooks" who are running for office, gosh I hate to think about it, much less listen to all the rhetoric and empty promises.

Carol247 said:

BTW, all we'll be hearing for the next year is about the "crooks" who are running for office, gosh I hate to think about it, much less listen to all the rhetoric and empty promises.

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heh, hearing about fresh crooks is usually more interesting than hearing about incumbant crooks. and actually sometimes empty promises are much easier to deal with than the alternative! :radioacti

[that's as far as i'm willing to go with political talk here on these forums... :closed: ]

Try this. Stop watching the news. Then stop watching TV altogether.

I wonder how many can live without it.

i could. i just really don't want to.

I rarely watch tv.. I like stuff like the Simpsons, King of the Hill, Futurama, etc.. But I either own it on dvd, or have it ripped to my Mac's... It's either that, or movies (Reservoir Dogs FTW!).