Pet Peeves
Newscasters
Topics covered in this document:
Introduction
I am NOT a big fan of the news!!!
In fact, you might say that I avoid it whenever possible. I don't
watch the TV news ... and my brain automatically tunes out newscasters
on the radio. I don't read the newspaper either.
Oh sure, once in a great while, a newscast sneaks in to intrude on my
otherwise wonderful world.
And sometimes I can't avoid hearing the latest news events from
conversations around the office. Most of the time, I can't participate
in these conversations because I don't have the foggiest notion what
they're talking about.
Sure, people have asked me how I can function in the world without
knowing what's going on around me. I used to work for an attorney ...
and he was probably the worst about being on my case all the time.
Actually, I don't have a real good answer for why I don't like the
news. In fact, my answer is a negative answer of sorts. I mean, I've
lived more than 60 years on this planet without paying much attention
to the news ... and I still seem to be alive and functioning.
However, I don't dislike the news as much as I detest sports ... but it's pretty darn
close.
Make Any Difference?
In general, I know a lot more about what happened 3000 to 4000 years
ago than I do about what happened yesterday. True, that might be a
disadvantage under certain conditions. So why don't the newscasters
wait until those conditions exist before they tell me?
Can I really DO ANYTHING about most of the things
that go on in the world? Can I stop a war ... or a murder ... or a
rape ... or a sex scandal ... or what the President does ... or race
riots ... or tornadoes ... or drug wars? No!
Especially when they are far removed from me geographically. Can I
stop bad things from happening? That is, after all, what most news is ...
bad news.
And it really bugs me when newscasters interrupt the regular broadcast
for an "important" news bulletin. Come on ... give me a break! Will the
world change significantly if I don't hear whatever it is right
now? I think not!
I mean, what will it hurt if I end up having to wait another 15 minutes
to hear the all important announcement? What dummy decides what
I can or cannot wait to hear?
Why don't these absolutely essential news bulletins ever interrupt a
commercial or a football game?
Effectivness of News
I wonder if anyone has ever gone to the trouble to survey all of those
news bulletins and determine if it really made any difference in the
world to have been the first to make the announcement. That seems to be
the important thing ... to get the scoop on the other newscasters ...
not to be informative.
Tell me, honestly, how effective is the news anyhow?
Which brings me to the thing I hate the most about news broadcasts.
Have you ever heard the newscaster talk about some disaster before they
have any facts? You have to sit there for the longest time, listening to
them babble on ... making assumptions about what is going on.
Why don't they just wait until they have some information before they
start talking? "Our mobile unit is on the way to the scene. We don't know
why the riot started ... or how much damage the earthquake caused ... or
how many people died when the rampaging gunman started mowing down
bystanders ... but as soon as our van gets there, we'll have video."
Huh?
And why does the 6:00 news repeat the 5:00 news? And the 10:00 news
have nothing to add to the stories?
For about six years I worked for a major metropolitan newspaper ...
thankfully in the information technology department and not in the
newsroom. It was exciting being in a dynamic, ever-changing environment ...
one that could get a headline in the paper and out on the street within
an hour.
But the real world changed very little for all the running around that
the reporters did.
I'm Different
I know I'm different. Nothing new there!
I don't expect to see newscasters change in my lifetime.
I know I might be the only person on the planet who feels
the way I do. But such is life. I live mine ... and I let those who have
to have their news fix live theirs.
But if you're ever talking to me about some newsworthy event and I
just look at you like I don't know what you're talking about ... I probably
don't know.
Like I told the attorney who used to get on my case all the time ...
if nothing else, I make a good juror ... because even the most media-blitzed
news events will be unknown to me.
Ah well ................. I happen to like my life the way it is. In
the dark when it comes to current events. But did you hear what happened
to Utnapishtim over in Mesopotamia 3000 years ago?
What Next?
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Have a pleasant day!
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