Mini-Experiment: 1 Month Without TV

In all honesty, this experiment happened by accident! My husband and I had signed up for a great cable package when we moved in July 2012. One year later, the price of that package went up by $40/month! We decided we didn't watch enough television to pay that much per month, so we cancelled our cable, with the understanding that we would get an HD antenna for the TV. That way we could still watch our local channels, which is pretty much all we'd watched when we had cable anyway.

Days turned into weeks after we cancelled our cable; still no HD antenna. I was having a lot of trouble with fibromyalgia flare-ups, my teacher-husband's school year was starting, and we were just generally busy. About two weeks after we cancelled cable, I realized two things:

1. I missed my local ABC station team (WCPO) and the Good Morning America and ABC World News Tonight teams like crazy! I had gotten so used to starting every morning with them, that they'd become like a second family; not to mention the fact that I'd grown up watching Diane Sawyer and seeing her giant poster downtown for the seven years I lived in Louisville, KY. I had been tweeting with them almost every day and had actually developed Twitter relationships with some of the local anchors and reporters, as well as a few people at the national level at ABC. It felt like I was missing something without them in my day.
2. My anxiety level was nowhere near as high as it had been when I was watching the news every day. It's not like I didn't know what was going on; I read the ABC app headlines and stories every day, but did not watch one news video. No war in Syria videos with dead bodies, no anxiety-filled potential Korean attack videos, no celebrity gossip videos, none of it. And I was calmer and happier without all of that horrible footage inundating my home.

So, time went on. And then football season started. I am the biggest football fan ever, so that's when I drove my husband to Best Buy and we chose an HD antenna! I was so excited to see everyone at WCPO and ABC again! It felt like I was seeing friends I hadn't seen in a month! And my anxiety went through the roof.

This mini-experiment was an accident, but I learned so much about myself both during it and in the few weeks since it's been over. I grew up without television, not getting one in my house until I was 16. Since that time, I have loved TV, almost feeling like I'm making up for lost time! But at what cost?

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Things You Shouldn't Say

This morning I woke up in an incredibly snarky mood. I was watching the news and had strong opinions about literally everything I was seeing: anchors' clothing choices, headline stories, commercials...everything. So I thought I would share. Some of you will think some of it is inappropriate, but hey, we all have days like this, and I'd rather put it out there than just let it simmer in my head all day.

1. Department of Justice. People are upset that the Obama administration has cracked down on "whistle-blowers." They're upset that his administration is not as "transparent" as he promised it would be. This morning on "Morning Joe" they killed about 7 minutes of air time discussing it. Why are they and we even pretending to "know" anything that's going on? There is no administration that can be "transparent." Obama said that to get elected and I don't think even he knew the extent to which he cannot be transparent. If you actually believed that he was going to share every possible terror threat with the country, you're insane.

In our age of endless instant information, of course there will be more whistle-blowers dealt with because there are more of them. I would rather have the administration keep certain things to themselves so that I'm not paranoid that our country is going to get blown up today than have to be given a daily briefing on which terrorist group wants to kill us all today.

People on both sides of the aisle are very upset about this, but come on. If the administration told us all everything that was going on for even a day, the same people who are currently upset would lose their minds about the administration over-sharing and making the citizens of our country freak out.

2. Tornado Victims Without Insurance. Yesterday I heard that a lot of the people who lived in the Oklahoma communities that got blown apart by the tornados didn't have insurance because they couldn't afford it. Of course we are all going to donate money and supplies to help them get their homes back even though they don't have insurance.

But the some of the same people who would have a cow if Obama didn't expedite federal help to these people who "chose" to not have insurance because they couldn't afford it are the same people who backed Hobby Lobby's fight against Obamacare so that their female employees don't get federally funded birth control. These are the same people who think that each person should be held accountable for their own health: "Why should we help them? They had the opportunity to be responsible and get a good job and purchase health insurance and they chose not to. Why are they my responsibility?" How are the tornado victims who don't have insurance any different? Why are you willing to help them, but not a 15-year-old girl who is a product of her environment, has not had the opportunity to be educated, and has no insurance?

3. TV Anchors Wearing Fluorescent Colors. This has been a long time coming. I actually have started making daily notes on anchors' outfits because there are the same mistakes being made over and over again. Today, I'm only going to focus on color: just because fluorescent is trendy doesn't mean it translates well on TV. And shouldn't our anchors be trendy on the upscale level, not the teenybopper level? Sixth graders are wearing neon. Professional adults are not.

Bright red, pink, orange, yellow, and lime green have got to get out of your wardrobe! 90% of the time, it washes you out because your complexion and the makeup you're wearing (well, not wearing) can't handle the intensity of the color you're wearing. Also, take 3 seconds and look at your background. If you wouldn't put hot pink in front of a bright red in your house, don't put it together on something that's in my house (the TV). It's very simple.

I really feel like my local news station is better at this than a lot of the national stations which shocks me, because the national stations have extensive stylists who are supposedly keeping our anchors looking good on TV. I would like to point out that I am not calling any particular station or stations out. Even my favorite anchors have had this neon transgression! But since I've started taking daily notes, I've been going to channels I don't normally go to and it's a recurring problem. Especially on the channels I don't watch! ;-)

So. The article on horrible commercials will be for tomorrow. It's written, but I don't want to overdo it! Venting just made me feel a tad better and I feel like I'm ready take on all of your comments that I'm sure you'll not hesitate to share! ;-)

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Spring Break Revelations

Good morning! I took a much needed week off because my fiancé was on spring break. I had been running out of good ideas for article topics and I felt like my articles were getting stale. My fiancé and I had a wonderfully relaxing break and we both are returning to our jobs today rejuvenated and excited for the next five weeks (how is it only five weeks until summer?!)!

Even though I didn't write during my break, I did keep up with the news. And I can't tell you how happy I am that I wasn't writing current news articles last week! Gun control, North Korea, and celebrity mishaps were hot topics. People were getting so fired up about everything and, on both sides, were polarizing issues.

Was it actually worse last week, or did it just seem that way, since I had removed myself from the fray?

I think the way our culture deals with news is fascinating. Everything goes so quickly that it feels like you have to be paying attention 24 hours a day and picking a side before that topic is no longer at the forefront of everyones' minds. For example, early last week, North Korea was making headlines every day. By Thursday, it wasn't even in the top news stories. Today, it's back on top because John Kerry is back from his visit there. Tomorrow, it'll be back in the second half of the hour's news, if at all.

How are we supposed to be informed citizens if we are bombarded with stories that freak us out, and then three days later, those stories are just gone and we have a bunch of new stories we're supposed to care deeply for and form very strong opinions about?

I am tired of seeing "political" articles that have no research behind them, surveys that don't actually give people all the options there actually are to choose from, and "debates" on television in which the minute someone says something that the host disagrees with, that person is cut off and the host tells us (again) what his opinion is.

This happens on both sides. I have done it. But we need to change. We need to decide that it's more important for our citizens to be informed than to choose a side. We need to decide that it's more important for us to make sure that everyone is safe (even if we don't know them and they live in a difference socioeconomic class than we do) than to keep a certain rating from a certain private corporation for our own "reputation" (wouldn't you rather have the reputation of helping people than the reputation of voting however the NRA wants you to vote so you have an "A" from them? I would.).

I guess the thing I took away the most from my week off is that I would rather be a well-informed citizen than have shallow (albeit loud) opinions. Sure, it's fun to get people all riled up and have arguments, but does anything really get accomplished with that? I'm not too sure. I think it's more important to help people understand (in a non-biased manner--yes, it's possible!) what's going on.

I have learned that just because I have strong convictions doesn't mean that they're always right. Just that last sentence alone shows growth on my part. I never would have said that even six months ago. This week, I am going to work on putting my hard and fast opinions aside and look at the big picture. I recommend that you do the same. It'll make all of us better for it.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

TV Violence: Is the News Taking It Too Far?

2:00 am
I don't think I've seen this hour in months! For some reason (*cough* new meds *cough*) I can't sleep tonight. I keep having nightmares and I'm absolutely exhausted, but I can't sleep. I decided to get up because I felt bad for waking up my fiancé every time I moved.

The nightmare I kept having was about something I saw on television today. I was flipping channels around 3 pm; I'd just finished listening to/watching an episode of America's Next Top Model and I needed something to bring my IQ back up. I went through the news channels and stopped on CNN. They were talking about the possibility of a cease-fire in the Middle East. I am all for peace, so I decided to watch the story.

As the top of the hour rolled by, they showed the most recent development in the escalation of violence: a group of Hamas men on motorcycles dragging the body of an alleged Israeli spy through the streets of Gaza while crying out, "God is great!" I was horrified! I am an extremely sensitive person when it comes to seeing violence and this crossed the line. I was absolutely blown away that they would show this at three o'clock in the afternoon. They did not preface it with, "This shows graphic images" or anything like that. How many kids had yesterday off from school and could have been flipping channels like I was?!

Around 8 pm or so, my fiancé and I were watching Anderson Cooper 360 and for some reason he or his producers thought it would be important to show a bunch of "graphic images" while Anderson talked about what had been going on lately. Anderson prefaced it with, "We are about to show some very graphic images..." While I appreciate the warning (I hid my eyes, but I wasn't quite quick enough), AC360 is a primetime show. How many families are flipping through channels on their first night of Thanksgiving vacation and accidentally see a baby wrapped in a Palestinian flag being lifted in front of a crowd for all to see?! At 10 pm when AC360 came back on after Piers Morgan's show, he did the same thing. I, again, didn't watch; but I wasn't as bothered by CNN showing those images at 10 pm than in the middle of the afternoon and during primetime.

While I understand that this is news and it needs to be shared, I really feel like the brazen reporting needs to stop. I am extraordinarily sensitive to this kind of thing, yes, but as a future parent, I take exception to this. I wouldn't want my children watching the news for a school project or something and all of the sudden see someone being dragged behind a motorcycle. What kind of message does that send to my kids? That the networks care more about the ratings they can get with shock value images than they care about the fact that the person being dragged has a family who might not even know he's dead?

What if it had been an American soldier being dragged behind the motorcycle? The networks would never have shown it! It would have been news, sure; but they would not have repeatedly shown the clip of it actually happening. They would have mentioned it and said something about how it is just immoral and horrifying that those heathens would do that to one of our soldiers. But someone who isn't an American? Sure, let's show that to the world. Some ally we are, showing our ally spy's body being desecrated.

I have immense respect for reporters and their crews. The job they have is incredibly difficult and sometimes dangerous. I don't want Anderson Cooper to take this personally (not that he'll read it; but maybe he will) because I think he's a brilliant reporter. I just want to bring awareness to the fact that just because something happens doesn't mean we need to see it in real time. Wait until after 9 or 10 pm and then show it if you really think it has merit.

Parents, please consider what your kids are exposed to. Even if you're "doing the right thing" and limiting TV time and making sure they're not watching R-rated movies, or whatever you think is the "right thing," pay attention to what they're watching. Remember that if you're watching it with them in the room, they're watching it, too. If the news gets too violent, turn the TV off, have a family game night or something, and watch the news online after your kids go to bed. Violence breeds violence. We need to breed a generation of peace.

Enough. Time for some sleep.

11:30 am
I just proofed what I wrote last night and think it's ready to share. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi