Why I Don't Watch The Local News

[Kitty]

I stopped watching the local news (except for the weather) because it was just so depressing. Nothing good.....all bad. Well, I figured I'd been out of the loop long enough and decided to watch the noon news today. Bad idea. The first story was about a couple who starved their 5 month old son to death. He weighed just 6 pounds. Two other older children were taken from them.

Things like this just anger me so. Why do people do things like this? I feel so helpless when I hear things like this. And guilty! Here I am sitting on my comfortable couch....with plenty of food within my reach.....and there's this tiny baby in my own state that is being starved yet there is nothing I can do.

I know I cannot save everyone.....or anyone for that matter. It just saddens me so that things like this are happening right under my nose and I can't do anything about it.

Stopping the news won't make it go away. It'll just make it go away in my house and keep me from having to hear about it. More selfishness on my part.

How do ya'll handle stuff like this short of just banning the news from your home?

[TXBatman]

"Lord give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..."

It sucks, but part of staying sane in a world where it seems like everybody is going crazy is just accepting that sometimes there is nothing you can do about it. By "accept", I don't mean endorse...just to understand that you can't change it. If you ignore the news, then you might never learn about the times where there might actually be something you can do to help.

[mrsD]

I keep CNN on TV sometimes in the background, with the volume down. I glance at it here and there if something important happens. They have changed CNN some during our vacation.
They have more human interest stories, the "heroes" nominees, some funny stuff, some money hints, some medical stuff, weather, etc. Not too stressful.
All the talking heads have new makeup which is much more natural looking. It was a surprise to see it improved this way.

I won't watch Fox at all. I rarely watch the local. The local Detroit situation is a major downer with the graft and fraud of the former mayor and his cronies. The Detroit news is always depressing. I was so much more relaxed on vacation with only a newspaper once a week, etc. Canadian radio (difficult to get other US stations)...even my blood sugars came down!

My take is that if stress makes you feel more ill...and that comes from TV..then off it goes! Even the TV shows can be stressful now. Even Dr. Oz sets me off most days. His show with Dr. Weil and Deepak Chopra was so lame and disappointing I became angry with it! I saw an ad for it so decided to watch it...what a mistake THAT was!

You are not alone, Kitty! I think the sensitive types, suffer more with it than others. Doesn't bother hubby as much as it bothers me!

[Kitty]

Guess I should read my signature verse.......that explains it all to me.

[SallyC]

I'm with you Kell except......

I don't even watch the weather on the local TV station, unless it's a disaster type reporting. I check the weather station every day and watch the "local on the 8s".

It's either a little kid being abused or a helpless animal being mistreated....grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! or A DH shooting his DW or visa versa..ugh. and The rest is political.

[Kitty]

That's a good idea, Sally. I watch "Local on the 8's" sometimes, too. I can get more accurate weather from that than I can from the local news.

Guess it's time to switch back to "Pet Keeping with Marc Marone" at noon instead of the news! Can't go wrong with animals.

[Jules A]

Ya know it is the fact that things like this even exist that make me so sad and ashamed to be a human being. When I read about child abuse and animal abuse it truly sickens me. In general I do not think this world is a nice place so that in addition to the genetic load my family and DH's family carry is a reason why I decided against having biologic children.

However on the flip side there are things everyone of us can do to help whatever our particular cause might be.

Although I know I will never end animal suffering I have neutered/spayed at least 50 feral cats as well as adopting a bunch and a few scraggly dogs too.

Also one of my jobs is with children at a behavioral health hospital. Unfortunately many of them have been abused and neglected. I treat them with kindness, respect and attempt to instill hope for the future.

Nothing huge but every little bit helps, right?

[Kitty]

You're right, Jules. Every little bit helps. What might not seem like much to us could mean the world to someone who's lost all hope.

I guess what frustrates me so is the fact that I feel so "stuck" here. No car and no way to just get up and go whenever I feel like it. But, MS has taken care of that luxury for me. There are days (more often than not) that my eyesight is so bad I dare not get behind the wheel of a car.

[SallyC]

That's it Kell and Jules. I can't watch those things because it personally hurts me to do so,, and that is selfish. But it also makes me feel angry alarmed and, most of all, guilty, for I too am stuck here and am unable to get out there and strike it down..

Praying is my only strength now and I do feel that my prayers may be doing some good.

[karousel]

Not only do I skip watching the news, I even canceled the paper. If I do want to get "caught up" with local news, I watch the local news channel. In one minute at the top of the hour and at the half hour they recap all of the top stories. Unless there's a "good" (happy, fun, interesting) story I want to hear about, I don't watch the rest of the half hour news program. I will only watch it to see what the weather will be. But even that is never good news!!