News, News, News
Learn to find reliable news that you can trust and utilize in your life.
By Leland E Pulley
Many years ago, news reporting had a lower profile in society and the lives of most people than it does today. More people read the newspaper or news magazines. There was less talk radio. But with time, things began to change. There was more television news, along with cable networks that began to compete with the big three or ABC, NBC, and CBS. Talk radio and the emerging personalities it created began to evolve. There was the blending of news with feature stories. News became 24 hours a day, seven days a week operation. More women became commentators along with men. Soon, whenever anything happened in the world, everyone knew about it. The news business became a bigger part of a person’s life, or it consumed more of your time.
Today the news business is also show business to a degree. There are big name personalities involved. There are competing channels and stations with definite political slants to their coverage. What the news business covers and how it does this affects many things. News coverage has a big impact on everything from elections to issues like the environment to government budgets to international relations. The optimism or pessimism of people about their community, state, nation or world affairs are influenced by what they read or hear or see via the news.
In recent years podcasts have become popular. There are so many they are competing with one another, as well as sending duplicate information. This adds another way to get opinions and news.
With the internet comes information of all types available to you on an instantaneous basis. Consider just all the emails messages received daily. Combine this with everyone carrying a cell phone with them. I see people looking at their phones throughout the day.
Last but not least, consider the many advertisers trying to get your attention while you are receiving the news in various ways. They want to influence you to accept an idea or buy a product or service.
The many ways the news sends messages to you are overwhelming. The real question is how much influence do you want news to have in your life? How much time do you want the news to take up? To help you find your own answers to these questions, here are some things to keep in mind.
A lot of the news is repeated each day. It is very repetitive between radio and television stations and channels, as well as newspapers and magazines. So many podcasts are competing with one another with similar information. You do not need to turn into the news daily to know what is going on in the world. You can do this less frequently.
If you listen to the radio or watch television, they decide what you hear or see and in what order. Also, you must hear or see their advertisements in the process. However, when you read a newspaper or news magazine, you select what you want to read, the order you read it, and whether you read any advertisements. This is more effective!
Some of the most important events in society receive too little coverage, and less important events receive too much coverage. For example, there are a lot of marital problems and divorce in this country and this topic is not covered much at all. However, some murder trials can get sustained coverage for weeks.
The news can provide both positive and negative information. How much good news do you receive? There can be a lot of sensationalism in the news too. Learn to sort through the information you receive. Reject that which is less credible, and do not believe everything you hear.
Some news is more useful to you than other news. Seek useful information, especially material that you can utilize in daily life. Ask yourself, how can I act on this information?
You do not need to stay informed in all areas. Which areas are more important? How well do you want to be informed in each area? Some personal guidelines here will help you to get through the news faster, and you will be more effective in obtaining the information you seek.
The news can become just another time filler in your life. It is another way for you to be busy or seem to be busy in life, without controlling what uses up your mental time. Do not let the news become this to you. Too many people today convince themselves they are so busy. But when you analyze what they are doing, or more importantly, what they are accomplishing, a lot of their busyness is their own creation. It is not essential. Limit how much time the news takes out of your life.
Today most people get their news via their cell phones. This is convenient and fairly cheap too. You are limited by the screen size of your phone, but for most news this is not important. One problem with cell phone news is it can become a bad habit because you are checking your phone many times daily. You end up reading too many things which are not that informative and have little direct application in your life. Those few minutes here and there each day soon add up to many hours per week. Monitor how much information you really want to read.
Modern news is both a miracle of technology, as well as a creation of the people in the business. It is also affected by the commercial marketplace, advertisers, and public opinion. The news has many good aspects and some unwanted side effects too. As the person in charge of running your life, use discretion in which news you let into your life and how you utilize it thereafter. This will help you to remain informed, learn new things, and be in a better position to make good choices. Knowledge and good choices help people to practice better personal stewardship.
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