Post written by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter
My blog buddy Tammy Strobel, over at RowdyKittens, recently went on a media diet, which got me thinking about the subject.
Why are we consuming all of this news?
The media: newspapers, television, radio, can be intoxicating. If you wanted to, you could spend twenty-four hours a day devouring little bits of news coming from every direction. There are news sources targeting every demographic, every nationality, every personality.
They all have one thing in common: they want you to read more.
But, just like if you were to eat food (even fresh vegetables!) for every single second for every day, what would happen? You’d get fat, and you wouldn’t get anything done. The media has the same effect as over indulging as everything. It’s time to take a break from the media.
Why should you take a break?
1, Because everything will continue to happen without you.
Obama will continue to make amazing speeches, Lohan will continue to make a fool of herself, Afghanistan will still be a cluster-fuck, Jennifer Aniston will still be sad and un-datable. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching or not, what the media thinks is important in the world will keep happening. It’ll still be there when you get back, but if you take a break maybe you’ll realize that you have more time in your life.
2, You’ll find more productive things to do with that time.
Think about it: if you spend three hours reading celebrity-obsessed blogs every day, what else could you do with that time? I can think of a few things: raise money to save starving children in peru. Sign this petition to get keep off-highway-vehicles (OHV’s) from destroying the habitat that yummy Chanterelle mushrooms grow in. Maybe you could start a blog on minimalism and start promoting values that will save the entire world.
I love having space in my day, to sit and meditate, to read an informative book. Empty space in a day is a lost art, why are we filling it up with useless information?
3, The news doesn’t effect you, you have no effect on the news.
Chances are that most news doesn’t impact your life directly. Of course maybe you’re super interested in the health care debate, or whether or not the employment in the U.S. is still down (it is.) But chances are there is nothing you can do about this personally, so why are you worrying?
Trust that you elected competent representatives for the job (you did.) And let them do their jobs. Tell yourself that health care will happen if it happens. And if you feel really strongly about the issue, actually do something to make it happen, don’t just read about it all day.
4, Because you’ll stop feeding a part yourself to the corporate machine.
Why do they want you to read more? Because it makes corporations richer. Time-Warner, Newscorp, Conde Naste, Bloomberg, the list goes on and on. By abstaining from the media you’re giving the big money less ad clicks, and thus less ad revenue.
Obviously not all media is owned by huge corporations, but most of it is. If you read independent blogs (like me!), instead of eating what the big media wants you to, you’ll help support people who are trying to make an honest living.
5, You’ll have time for everything else.
Is there something in your life that you’ve been meaning to start doing? Like maybe you’ve always wanted to start doing yoga daily, cook dinner for your loved ones or friends, or learn a new skill?
The list goes on, the possibilities for the time you’re not spending reading the news is endless.
I’m going to take a break from the media myself this week. No New York Times for me, and sorry Vulture blog you’ll have to inform someone else!
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