I had always been one to read a newspaper (an actual hold in your hands and turn the page type), searched the web for events that were relative to my work or life, and vaguely paid attention to most of the other randomness that our society deems important. When I moved to Virginia, I actually tried to watch the local television newscasts, thinking that being so close to our nation's capital would be a great source of information to keep me updated about the important goings on in the world.
Unfortunately, I soon found myself disgusted by what was deemed "newsworthy" per the local news agencies and how biased, both culturally and racially, this area was in regards to what was regularly covered and realized that I was not going to get many answers by watching the "local news."
To redirect myself back to the topic (stupid tangents), currently I don't really search for that much news content. I try to find out what the current traffic patterns/problems are by listening to a local radio station in the morning, Thunder 104.5, as most of us know that traffic in our area S.U.C.K.S!, and I usually get the weather forecast from an application on my iPad.
I also try to stay connected to my favorite sports teams so I frequent ESPN on a regular basis and for more in-depth information on the greatest teams in the world, I go to the Seattle Seahawks, Oregon Ducks, Portland Trailblazers, Portland Timbers, and Seattle Mariners web sites.
For the regular news I usually just scan highlights when I check my email on AOL.com and if necessary, or I'm just curious, I have been known to visit CNN, MSNBC, and Al Jazeera for my knowledge fix. And if for some reason I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else, Google is my catch-all.
I know it may seem boring to many of you, but being disconnected from most of the unimportant commotion that is thrust upon society is kind of a calming therapy to me. And as Bruce Banner likes to say, "Please don't make me angry, you won't like it when I'm angry."
Ray,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you! I love reading the newspaper. When my mom was quite ill and in the hospital long-term, my way of entertaining her was to bring the Sunday newspaper to her and we'd share, reading stories to each other and just taking the time to flip through all the ads, the world and metro news, etc.
Can you share a specific news item (or one like it) that you found disgusted you from the local news? We have running commentary in our house every time we see advertisements from Jim Vance (WRC's past 11 p.m. anchor). Gems like, "A dog, loose. At 11."
I don't think disconnecting is boring. I think it's actually quite healthy!