What are you watching?

I have just about given up watching the news on TV.

I don't know if I have just become more aware, if I grew up watching a different type of news, or if the news has changed. The news has become a drama show. Each time I watch I find myself getting sucked into a hardship story, a crime case, or a clinging to a teaser that makes me want to stay tuned until the next commercial is over. Once I realize what has happened, I feel like I have been taken advantage of by the news people. How can I fall for that old trick again?

I know better. I have worked with members of the media on several occasions covering press events. I have stood right next to the reporter as they interviewed someone and saw first hand what information was exchanged. Then hours later, I have watched the editing happen and somehow the story evolves into something where I wonder if I missed a part of the event. The edited version is more exciting and more interesting than anything I saw happen. This type of editing in the news is a top story or headline and it is portrayed as non-fiction or reality. On TV or in the movies this editing is hailed as creative storytelling and is openly portrayed as fiction or fantasy.

I think most people would agree that reporters and TV stations create their own drama to get higher ratings or to show off their TV personalities. We all know what they are trying to do but we keep watching anyway. It makes me wonder what role you and I play in this process. We are the people who buy the gossip magazines and who tune in to watch celebrities go to rehab or get arrested. Why do we enjoy seeing people fail and view it as entertainment but when we watch people on the TV news we wrap ourselves into stories that are personal, dramatic, and full of condemnation and accusations. We watch the news stories and begin talking to the TV set with phrases like, "those poor people," or "that is just horrible," or "I can't believe anyone would do that."

We know better so why do we do it? What is it in us that has to see what happened on the side of the road that caused traffic to slow to a crawl? Do we really want to see what could be happening? We know it could be bad and possibly traumatic for us to see it. Yet, we stop and look as if not looking is beyond our control? Why do we watch when we know better.

So before I started this blog I was ready to say how bad the media was and how we should all just tune them out of our lives. I was ready to blame them for everything. As I began to write things out I have developed a different perspective. I realized that the media does have some responsibility for what they choose to show on TV and how it is portrayed but really they are just feeding off of us. We are causing the drama frenzy because we can't stop watching.

So what do we do?

Avoidance and/or re-direction is usually my first course of action. Probably the biggest thing we could do is to change our hearts. We need to think about people in bad situations as if they were a close relative. While we shouldn't condone bad behavior, we need to love them and hope they to improve if they have made a mistake. Seeing people we care about struggle with life might be dramatic but it certainly wouldn't be entertaining. This is the type of drama that if given the choice, we instinctively would not want to watch.

What are you watching?