We've lived in Utah, Nebraska, upper Michigan and now we've settled in Colorado...at least for now! Marley is 10, Isi is 6 and Enzo is 4!

Life is great!

Thursday, February 7, 2008

I Hate Reading the News...

I like to stay up to date on current events, which I usually do by watching the news on TV. The news on TV kinda bugs me sometimes...but, when I try to read the newspaper it totally frustrates me. I feel like the articles are very repetative. They either, totally confuse me and at least a dozen times I think...didn't they already say that? Sometimes they don't even disguise it by refrasing it...they just repeat the same information verbatum.

If it doesn't confuse me it totally bores me and I think...get to the point!!! I wonder if they are just trying to fill up space to make it look like they have a bunch of news? A front page article that has 2-3 paragraphs on the front page and then says to go to A-5 for the rest of the article, usually can be totally reported on in that three paragraph space on the front page...but they don't write it like that.

They need to write newspapers more like they report the news on TV....short and to the point. I do like quotes from people in articles and I do like extra details, which they don't usually provide on the TV news...but they can still include those aspects with out dragging out the article forever!

I also feel like many articles are biased especially magazine articles. Some newspapers/magazines are more left wing or right wing (always forget which is which - right wing is conservative and left wing is more liberal right?)....but, I can't keep track of that! Then I never know how what I'm reading is being tainted.

I feel like this is true with politics. How are we supposed to know if the media is holding back positive aspects of a person's contributions to the good of the whole? How are we supposed to know if the media is twisting the truth to make us think a politician is all about his own self interest? The democrats will only report the bad things about the republicans and visa-versa. So, it's hard to know a politicians true character (maybe that's an oxy-moron? Do politicians have true characters?)...either they are sugared up by their own party's perspective...or they are mudslinged to death by the opposing party. It's hard to keep up and wade through to make an educated decision.

Don't get me wrong...I don't hate politics and I totally feel that voting is a priviledge. But, I do think that when we vote we should make an educated well thought out vote...I'm still learning about how to do that when often times I just get confused and frustated by the media.

I feel like this is true with the war in Iraq. At the risk of sounding uneducated (maybe someone could educate me) is that where the war is going on? I can never tell when I look at the news!?!? Maybe I need to look at a map with someone and they could educate me. I know Al Quida is bad. I think Jihad is good...or is it bad? I don't know.

I have a strong desire to know more of what is going on with the war our country is fighting in and why we are fighting and if we should keep fighting and how it should all be maintained and what not. I'm not anti-war...I'm not pro-war....I'm pro-making educated decisions based on facts....but, the more I read, the more I get confused and the more I wonder....How do I know what is true?

Any thoughts? Any suggestions?

4 comments:

Julie J. said...

Amen Sister! By the way, I think it is hilarious that your first three paragraphs about the news being repetetive ARE totally repetetive. HEhe.

Jeanna said...

I completely agree. I am completely disgusted with media in our country. I don't know who to trust. When I was deciding on who to vote for in the primary I ended up reading blogs by supporters, but didn't read blogs of anyone I wasn't interested in in the first place.

I am not sure where to go for unbiased reports on politics, if I ever figure it out, I'll share it.

By the way: Jihad=Bad.

Becky said...

A few people responded to me by email because they had a lot to say. Not much advise on how to figure it all out...but they had good opinions and valid information to consider.

A friend of mine came to talk to me about because she said she didn't want to type it all up. It was fun to talk to her about it all.

Though I think everyone has made a point to educate me that Jihad is bad. Good to know.

I also looked at a map and was able to sort out a lot of questions I had about the middle east in general. I think I'll keep researching...it's really interesting.

Nathan said...

Researching is the best way to go. It is also reading the news because lots of newstories to look at while researching. I tell you I hate watching the news I have to wait for twenty minutes of commercial breaks before I find anything out about what they previewed.