

Monday, April 26, 2010

Attention must be paid?











  1. My last reporting job, before I became an editor, involved covering the FCC. I was always amazed at the folks who filed detailed complaints with the FCC over radio or TV shows they considered offensive. (I will note here that, since the airwaves are owned by the public, you have the right to complain about content and the FCC has rules about what you can broadcast.) Some people filed detailed transcripts, with the offending parts highlighted. They devoted hours to compiling their complaints. The best way to deal with such shows is to change channels or turn off the radio/TV. Your blood pressure will be lower, too.

  2. Thank you, John, for another fair and balanced assessment of one aspect of our political culture.

    I could repeat your tirade, except for that silliness about taxes, and our doubled contribution to FICA contributors.

    I used to have Rush on the radio everyday because I could only receive one station in my Harford Rd. office/bunker. I have never watched Beck or Olberman, and only hear their most outrageous or newsworthy comments elsewhere. We don't have cable. The kids didn't need it when they little. I find Keeler amusing, except when he becomes another pompous political commentator.

    What caused me pause with your item was the reference to a source, Twitter. I fear you will next Wikipedia!

  3. Oh, and yes - turn it off, change the station, hit delete - do what ever it takes to keep from yelling at the idiot on the television or radio. If that is hard to do, join me for a walk in a river or stream with fishing rod comfortably at hand.

  4. I see nothing amiss with a loud shouting as long as it leads to some positive course of action ... but as you say, there are some who shout for the sake of shouting, or worse yet, shouting how we should run time backwards or jump over our own knees.

  5. This is a wonderful piece. I plan to reread it regularly. I frequently have the same experience of working up a satisfying rant and then realizing what a waste of energy it is. But the deeper point, that feeding the gasbags simply fuels the hyperbolic negativity, is really important.

    I've been thinking a lot about this during the recent economic unpleasantness. So much of what drives the economy is subjective: from the level of individual consumer to enormous multi-national institution, our feelings and premonitions and worries and assumptions and predictions drive economic decisions. Focusing on the economic bad news encourages us to make decisions based on worst-case scenarios that are more dire than real. And so the problem perpetuates, and grows.

    I've been trying to limit my exposure to "the sky is falling! This time for sure!" commentary, and pay less attention to the fine details and more to the overall trends. Or maybe I've just been selecting more positive "news" to concentrate on. Either way, I'm calmer and less disposed towards apocalyptic thinking, which has got to be a good thing.

    If we don't like the partisan political whinging, we can opt to ignore it: excellent lesson. And on the other hand, it's also instructive to remember that thus has it ever been. I get so tired of the narcissistic bellowing that Things Are Worse Than They Have Ever Been, or This Generation Is More [or Less] _____ Than Ever Before, etc. Historical perspective is alarmingly rare...and I suppose, it always has been.

  6. @Bruce - Comcast did that for me last Friday wiping out all of my cable news channels (except for CNN and CNBC). Suprisingly enough, I don't miss them... the other 30 channels I used to get are another matter entirely.

  7. You reminded me that when I was a kid we received only one TV station for a few years. We were thrilled, and feasted on programs that were awesome, even to a little kid. (I can't believe I watched M. Solomon Presents, in which women modeled fur coats that nobody in my town could afford. Morey Amsterdam and his cello was an entertaining fifteen minute show that couldn't possibly make the grade today. Then, miraculously, there were three! What had begun was something called "choice." Learning to master that phenomenon is something that continues to this day.