There is a downside to being connected to all of humanity through the Internet. Anyone with a cell phone can now view scenes of incredible horror, depraved behavior, and mind-bending outrage by tapping a screen and asking for access to whatever bizarre activity comes to mind. And that’s just the mainstream news on AP, ABC, BBC, MSN, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal!
Your opinion may differ, especially if you have been fed a diet of news from these sources for a few years, but has any of this news brought you a sense of peaceful enlightenment? Almost all news from the mainstream media is written with a purpose to push a certain point of view and not to inform or enlighten. You are being coached to view a particular segment of society as villains, rather than people handling difficult situations with inadequate resources.
News articles written for their shock value do not provide you with information to build a future on. You can tell who among your friends are readers of the mainstream media because they parrot the latest atrocity headline as though it was holy writ. And why not? We all look for stability in a fast-changing and threatening world. Having concise answers to puzzling situations gives us a feeling of being in charge in an otherwise confusing and threatening world.
Finding someone else to blame for rising crime, threats to our safety, homelessness, riots, and our own helplessness in the face of looming unemployment and rising costs, makes us feel less responsible for our lack of control in our lives.
The only way out of this trap is to find sources of information that give you a balanced view of issues and to observe for yourself what the actual facts are for any situation. If you can’t get facts you can verify with several reliable sources, ignore that news and the news source. Try avoiding mainstream media because they coordinate their stories and often use the same language to spread their version of the news.
Try to find news sources that offer positive viewpoints as well as exposure of illegal or undesirable activities so that you get a balance of things to be wary of and things to look forward to. If the news sources give you data to improve your life, that helps your survival also.
You need accurate data to manage your life and your future. Don’t put your health or sanity in danger by wallowing in bad news. Look for people and news sources with positive solutions.
David St Lawrence