The News is Bumming me out

now it’s nothing new that the news is a bummer … unless its a fluff piece its going to be depressing … but today i’m revisiting feelings that i just don’t like the way we cover news. yesterday there was a mass killing at the Navy Yard in DC (note to self to write a seperate blog entry on why we’re such a gun loving society), and while that’s big news for sure, there are other things going on in the world (flooding in Colorado / Syria issues among the top ones) … and i just can’t help but get bummed out by the fact that misery sells … its’ just so ridiculous that the news organizations run one top story to death until the next big thing comes along, then they bump everything else to air 24 hours straight of just the one big story … and the dramatic graphics and music which are designed to make it more … well dramatic … just make me sad … it’s misery as entertainment …

the only bright spot as i cruised the various cable news broadcasts was the (relatively) new Al Jezeera America, which was still airing stories on the flooding and as I type is running a story on Japanese Sumo wrestling … now i’m not saying i’m a big fan of theirs (they are boring and i’m not sold on the fact that i shouldn’t ban them outright) but at least they are making an effort to do something a little different… i think this approach may pay off for them if they keep it up …

that’s about all i have for now … i noticed it’s been a long time since i’ve written … i’m going to have to make an effort to change that going forward.