So arrives another new year. Live your life!
As 2008 closed out amidst concern, if not angst, over the economic turmoil that has consumed our collective national consciousness, I am perplexed. Is it the power of the media that has us running for cover….because it tells us to? Granted, major financial institutions and auto manufacturers failing is going to grab headlines. But how many of us does that directly affect?
It would seem that it affects all of us if we are to believe what we are told. But seriously, unless you were laid off, how did Washington Mutual’s failure affect you? Probably not at all. If there are no new Chevrolets, will you stop buying groceries? Not likely. These events are not going to affect your day to day activities, unless you decide to allow it.
Suggestion: Turn off the tube. It’s an aberration of what is already loosely termed “news”. Read the newspaper instead. I like page three when I want to learn something. TV news broadcasts are entertainment, pure and simple, garnering advertising dollars based on viewership.
Are you old enough to recall the debut of “60 Minutes” many years ago? Initially panned as doomed to fail, much like “Monday Night Football”, it broke all the rules and soared to higher ratings than the producers could have ever imagined. Today we have not only dedicated “news” programs ad nauseum, we have a host of “news channels”.
Other than the weather channels, I think it is all a bunch of poorly reported, inadequately researched, largely unverified, crap. Conservatives accuse “the media” of being too liberal. Liberals accuse the media of being too conservative. I think they’re both right. Truth be told, the media is simply sloppy, thus the accusations. It is the inaccuracies inherent in reporting too fast, too carelessly, that gets the talking heads rolling.
Tv and radio talk show hosts live on the edge of truth for the sake of ratings. If it’s not controversial, who’s going to watch or listen? OK, so how to make boring news controversial? Spin it. Make a story out of a non-story. Take the Governor of Illinois….please!! The guy’s a loser. We get it. Do we need to get beat over the head with it? The newspapers were largely done with this guy after a week. The electronic media has beat this story to death for a month. Why? His stupid hair? His goofy accent? Oh no, the interest is sagging. Spruce it up with highly dubious (read untrue) Obama tie-ins. More pics of the dumb guy with the dumber hair.
Why does this formula work for the electronic media? Maybe it’s because they know what we are not willing to admit: the TV is on in too many homes ALL THE TIME.
I walk by my family room and the TV is on, and no one is in the room. I go work in my office for a little while, come out to go to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Walking past the family room, the TV is on again, and there’s no one in the room. This can happen several times a day. It doesn’t matter what I say to the household, it’s just the way it is. I think my room mates
are fearful of silence. Heaven forbid it is quiet enough to contemplate ones own thoughts. Horrors! It is something that I have accepted as a cost of working at home. I think it will be my New Year’s resolution to limit the number of hours that the TV is on. I am also swearing off talk radio. They’re not all bad, but the worst are on during the hours that I am most likely
on the road.
I didn’t mean to lose my way here, but I had to get that out. My point is that I fear that we are sliding down a precipitous slope for no better reason than we are being told that we sliding down a precipitous slope. Most of us have the same job, car, house, family, etc., that we had 12 months ago. I don’t doubt that people in finance, real estate, and car sales are having a tough time. Heck, I ought to know. But I’ve been through downturns before, and survived. Each time we have been told, “we’ve never seen anything like this”, “there’s no end in sight”, “this could be the beginning of a depression”, etc. The World was transfixed by the news stream from the Mideast during Desert Shield in 1991. The World seemed to stop as all air traffic was grounded following 9/11. Out of the mayhem emerged strong economic runs. It will happen again. It’s not a matter of if, but rather when, a turnaround will occur. Just as when many over-speculated on the premise that the recent run up in real estate would never end, it is a mistake to believe the current downturn won’t end.
While it is always good to be prudent, I am focusing on being well positioned for the rebound when it comes. So I urge all to turn off the so-called news channels, turn away from self-fulfilling prophecy conversations, enjoy what you have now, and have faith that things will get better if we simply think for ourselves.
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