NOT in the news

I suffered a near debilitating obsession level with YouTube trending news from like October last year till February of this year.

I couldn't stop following the US Election drama. I was worried and concerned. I think a lot of non-US people were.
And then it was finally over. The drama that is. I don't care what the Reps do with Trump. I don't care if Biden is any of what they say of him. Good or bad.

That and all things covid. Regardless of where you stand on any of it, it's too much, it's too everpresent. And it seems credibility is gone. Who do you trust now?
Covid is still the top story. But I've stopped worrying about it. Not saying it isn't still a potential danger. But, I've lost the need to fear it daily. I'm worn out. I've had zero social life for a year.

I'm trying to walk away from the obsession with the news.
It hasn't been healthy.

Trump isn't the only person I'm able to be disgusted with. Canada and the UK have no shortage.
And I'm just trying to stop caring. I've been forced to hide here in my apartment. I don't care what's happening outside of town.

I'll watch the weather-related news. That's it.

I am soooo glad 2020 is gone. I refuse to let 2021 be a re-run.

Why hello, Lesley.

My news is filtered through my partner. "schizophrenia management something something."

Please don't spell it Leslie. That's both a dead name and not mine.

Friends call me Bunny

Hi Bunny,

I don't watch the news either much these days, it is so depressing. I do hope 2021 does prove to be a good year for everyone and optomistic me believes it will be.

Beth! What a strange avator!!!!!!!! Too scary!!!!

Celia xx

OMG Bunny, I'm sorry....... It's a habitual spelling from an old friend, and my muscle memory just took over.

It's good to see you again.

Celia, I am a Grateful Dead fan and an Airbus sim-pilot. They go together.

I watched hours of network news from patient zero to the end of may. Got very depressing. I hand pick 2.or 3 things while i have breakfast that catch.my eye and NO videos theyre a waste of time. I have zero social life and no job. I only go outdoors when i.need.to buy groceries. Ergo what i do in my umlimited spare time must be chosen not dictated. Network news is designed to be addictive, re runs the same 3.or 4 stories all day and caters to an audience that demands excitement and controversy, which usually translates to violence and social outrage. There have been studies it can warp one's reality.

I seriously miss Walter Cronkite and everything he stood for.

I feel like 90% of todays journalists basically deficate on his memory and legacy of just reporting the news as it is and not some kind of opinion or spin.

I only partially blame the networks, I feel the journalists are just as culpable as the networks because they have thrown their integriy out the winow for popularity by pandering to the masses and the networks as they seem to do.

I understand they are just trying to make a living like everyone else, but they do have a responsability with what they do because of the damage they can easily cause.

It seems that no one pays enough attention to history.

Kaibeth wrote:Celia, I am a Grateful Dead fan and an Airbus sim-pilot. They go together.

But, did you ever see the Grateful Dead with Pigpen on stage at the Fillmore (1967) with his pitcher of whiskey?

You don't have to become a shut-in to avoid the news. Get a nice collection of non-news channels in your YouTube subscription feed. My feed is all 3D modeling, game design, and makeup tutorials, synthesizer and drum machine reviews, and interesting but useless facts along the lines of Thoughty2. When Google slips "In The News" into my feed I just click the x in the header and they get the message for a few weeks.

I don't know how it is in Canada, but here in the US you can always find a radio station in your car that caters to your musical tastes without top and bottom of the hour news updates. I listen to local interest programs on talk radio, then when the national stuff starts up I switch it over to a classic rock station that just has a station promo to let you know it's the top of the hour. Remove NPR from your presets.

My TV is constantly set to Antenna TV. Nothing but programs from the early 60s to the late 80s (overlapping into the early 90s if an 80s show ran that long). The most topical thing I hear about on that channel is Johnny Carson's monologues mentioning Reagan or Bush Sr.

You can go for days at a time without hearing the news, though I am lucky enough to be in a job where customers keep me updated on the local stuff (and I mean very local. 50 mile radius)