I knew my March “One Minute Note” about abstaining from watching the news would be controversial. I received some very thoughtful responses. Here are two for you to chew on:
“I’ve been reading the newspaper and listening to KPFK, rather than watching the suckling tube, and the effect on me is interesting. Because I am now close to forty and understand a little bit about human psychology and the way the world actually works, none of the gloom bothers me. It’s like the world has caught a cold and needs to run a fever for a while. It’s actually very healthy.
Just a different perspective, I guess. Some medicate their way through a cold, trying to trudge onward as if they were healthy, some panic and run to a doctor for help, and others let the fever run and take some time to let nature take its course. The latter strikes me as wiser, but… different strokes.”
David Abramson – Writer, Director, Film Editor
“I view the news in a different way. I’m a news junky, always tuning in to CNN or MSNBC or devouring the latest news in the LA Times or online. Although it is filled with depressing items and many demagogues trying to capitalize, I find the humanity in the news fascinating. We see ordinary people like you and I suddenly swept up in some extraordinary event and then we get to see what kind of human being they really are – hero/coward, liar/trustworthy, admirable/despicable. The news is really about us and what we make of the world we are in. So I watch with fascination and I learn from the mistakes and successes of others. This way, if I am ever in the news, maybe I will come out a hero and not a goat.”
Don Ford – President, Training Education Management, LLC
