What we are exposed to daily by the media is quite an array
of topics. That’s an understatement!
Sports seem to be a seasonal favorite throughout the year.
Currently autumn football action is a big deal in the USA . It’s colorful, action oriented and
interesting to witness the athletic prowess, mental strategies of the game as
well as the movement on a big screen TV.
But I am not a sports enthusiast. Not in fall, summer,
spring or winter. I like the Olympic winter games probably more than the
others, but then I’m sitting in my warm home viewing the quaint wintry
exhibitions of others out in the cold! For some reason it makes me feel cozy.
Baseball for me is boring. Watching a game on TV is better
than being in the ballpark. Fewer distractions on the TV and more focus on the
game. Still, it feels like watching paint dry. I know my comment won’t sit well
with sports fans, but hey, there are a gazillion people just like me so get
over it!
The only good thing about baseball for me is its arrival on
the seasonal calendar means winter is over and outdoor activities beckon with
warmer days and sunny skies.
So, sports don’t do much for me. I care which cities have
winning teams for different sports. It makes them feel better about their
community. That’s a good thing, so I pay attention to that. But I really don’t
follow sports. At all. I’d like their presence in my newspaper or internet home
page to be devoid of this distraction. I have other things I’m interested in.
The Kardashians seem to be everywhere and that’s the problem
for me. I don’t know these people, nor do I care much for them. From what I
read and see they don’t produce anything, improve on anything, or empower the
world, so they seem to be a national Facebook item that’s gone viral! Enough. They are not news.
Same for most society items. Those are not news unless it is
local. Celebrity news, too. They are nice people and talented. They share their
talents with us in the form of their art and entertainment. They get well paid
for those efforts. I really don’t need to know their marriage is in tatters, or
they are having an affair with someone, or any of that rot. I wish them well and hope their lives are
happy and not filled with obsessions or addictions with various behaviors and
substances. On the same hand I don’t wish to be informed of those troubles
should they encounter them.
Oh, I’m not much interested in hearing someone’s opinion on
what happened, either. I do want to know what happened. I want to wrestle with
whether this happening is important and why, but I don’t need someone
immediately to tell me that. I want to work that out for myself first. Later, I
will search out expertise and their ‘take’ on the matter. This action will help
me round out my understanding of the matter and keep me an independent thinker
who tests his opinions against experts.
Here’s my ideal news outlet’s content: Weather forecast (do
I need an umbrella, boots or a heavier coat); sports scores in tabular form I
can scan or skip, nothing more; world events of high impact (wars, peace talks,
emergent leaders, etc); regional/national news of high impact; local news;
amazing new entertainment/arts events and access to more information on those
events if I’m interested; science news; education news; business and economics
news.
That’s it. All of that I can research to my heart’s content
and feed my own interests. Along the way I can connect, mix or disconnect
several items as they interrelate or not. It is that circular interplay of
differing topics in which moments of genius are encountered and developed. We
all need more opportunity for that to occur.
Today’s media seems to think we don’t think and need to be
fed a constant stream of predigested food! News or food, either predigested is
disgusting!
So the internet so far serves me better than a newspaper.
Even so I am challenged to scan much content and skip a lot of it.
Media are reinventing their genre. It is painful for them
and us during this period. Oh how I wish they’d find their place, soon!
September 23, 2014
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