Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I raise this question on my own personal reflections. I live in a big metro area and every weekend and on my nights the restaraunts are busy, Best Buy is packed, the fast food lines packed, as well as the Department Stores.
Again, this is just a personal experience, zero scientfic data. But it really makes me think, if I stayed in all day and watched TV one would think the world is ending. With the 24 hour news cycle, our media more than ever is hyping & sensationlizing everything.
Now things are bad, my 401K is getting beat bad, gas prices were through the roof, now back down(for now).
I guess it is kind of like a recession is when you lose your job. It can happen when the economy is "booming" or "stagnant."
Kinda like minor surgery. It is minor when it's on someone else, but a whole new ballgame when it is on you.
I watched a lot of the election coverage on different channels but was so sick of the one sided broadcasting by many channels and stopped watching many of them except for Fox News.
Just before the election day i started to cut down on the election coverage at all since I noticed that my kids were almost talking about nothing else than the election since in school they were hearing so much although many times it was also one sided and it was good for them to hear another side and to decide for them self.
I agree with the OP that the coverage on many channels is like we are living in a poor country and almost everybody is job less.
If i look around in my area I see many foreclosures, most of them due to people buying homes they never could have afforded in the first place and not losing them because the lost their job, but because many others were stupid investors who had no clue what they were gambling with.
Right now I watch the news very briefly and read newspapers on the internet (American and European newspapers) and for the rest we just watch some other relaxing programs like cops, some speeding programs, crime, some teenage prgrams, etc...just not to hear how bad it all is...since IMO it is bad but not as bad as the news channels describe.
Long ago I learned how news channels make money.....when a disaster hits, the companies are buying more add time and the news channels make more money...so if the news channels would say "it is not so good but on the other hand not that bad", hardly any one will watch and no extra adds will be sold!
Well I guess you could extent that no TV to no computer also.No I don't want to get rid of tither one as driving around my town I see teh same busy stores and restaurant but it gives me no oberllo national sales figuire to know what the big picture is.
Without television I would have more books. The books already occupy most of the space in our condo. More books would require us to get smaller or move.
Me, too! I have a whole bookcase of unread books. I love books.
And I agree this damn forum and computer takes a lot of my time. But what can I say? I like it!!
LOL. I like to keep books as references, for just on reason. Have a real weakness for going into bookstores and picking up a book and "just have to have it." But I usually go home and order it online (on my computer)
We put our TV in the attic in 2002. I nicknamed it the Time Vampire (honestly without even realizing the initials were the same). Mostly we ditched it because I thought it was waaay too negative. All the popular shows have plots that pretty much show the worst in people-- backstabbing, murder, promiscuity, addiction, etc. Guess that's what makes the ratings, though.
And I'm not a big Christian or morality guru, I just thought what television reflected was not an accurate sampling of society. Anyone who watches for any length of time comes to believe the world is a perilous place full of liars, thieves and worse.
The deciding factor was when I realized that even the so-called "PAX" channel (a Christian family channel, "PAX" means peace) had reruns of shows like Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder, etc. How gone is our perspective when that's the peaceful Christian family channel?
I surf the internet now for news and footage of things that interest me. Movies are tough, since I never see the TV, I rarely have any idea of what's playing. When I do see a TV show, it's weird. The shows mostly feel kind of empty and callous-- Hollywood rehashing the same plot from 30 years ago, same sinister music, same laugh track, different haircuts. Once you haven't watched in a while it's very transparent.
This is too long a post. I'm sounding like the self-righteous loon from the Onion article. Ah well. Just thought I'd give a little insight as to what pushed one loon over the edge.
For what it's worth, I never bring it up. Unless someone asks me, "Did you see...(fill in the name of a show) last night?" or a similar question. Then I'm kind of embarrassed when I answer. People give you that tinfoil hat look.
I made a choice when I was 14 years old that studying was more important than T.V. Now I'm 45, and I never did get back into the TV habit. I do watch "Dancing with the Stars" every week, but that's it. I get most of my news from the internet or from the L.A. Times (which I still have delivered to my door every day). Most of T.V. is a vacuous wasteland. I'm not a prude, but when you can't find any decent programs, what's the point?
I read quite a bit, though. My apartment is filled with books, in fact. If there's ever a large earthquake and I'm here, you'll probably find me squashed flat under a giant pile.
I've only heard of American Idol through internet chat, don't even know what channel or day of the week it is on ... and please don't tell me either, I don't want to know.
Me neither and couldn't care less
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.