24 Hour News is scary

[questioner]

I was recently laid up after foot trouble and watched ALOT of TV. I flpped back in forth between CNN, FOXNEWS, MSNBC and CNBC. I would go to bed every night scared to death.

Bird Flu- We are all going to die of the flu!

The War in Iraq: They are moving towards civil war any day and the whole Middle East is going to be in chaos

Big Storms: Another huge hurricane will destroy the south any day now!

Terror Attack: A major terror attack is happening ANY DAY now!

The New York Subway: Don't travel the subway, an attack is coming this weekend

Gas Prices: Oil is going to $100 a barrell and gas up to $6.00 a gallon. The economy is going to crash

Inflation is coming: 1970s style inflation is coming and this will crash the stock market. With Bush taking away Social Security and our retirement money down -with the stock market- we will all work until we are 100 years old- if the world survives.

The Anchor Women are SO PRETTY that it makes my wife seem almost average looking!

I am scared to death after watch 24 hour news

 

[Miller1412]

Exactly. Can you say SENSATIONALISM? My mom and dad watch Fox News all the time, I've never seen a news group get a story and not let go the way they do!

 

[grinningghost]

I am chuckling at the "anchor women" comment.

I'm not scared by 24 hour news. It's basically news magnified a billion times for the sake of sucking in viewers.

Did you ever notice when they interview a person, the reporter will say something like "So what is the DANGER associated with this?" The interviewee will say "Well of course the possibility it will be DANGEROUS is inevitable." Or something like that.

They use words that are intended to freak people out. You can choose to freak or not to freak.

I opt for the latter.

 

[Micca]

I am a bit of a news junkie, but I can easily OD on watching the news channels for any extended length of time. It doesn't "scare" me so much as it wears on me.

 

[Mamu]

The Gloom and Doom of 24 hour news networks would depress anyone.

Yes we should always expect the un-expected and noting like being prepared. The networks have you thinking armageddon is on the way. I prefer to be prepared like most. Live my life daily and deal with the unexpected as they happen. I can't work myself into a frenzy over tomorrows tragedies which may not even happen.

 

[bicker]

By the same token, between the tsunami and this earthquake, it has been a very bad 12 months. We can expect some doom and gloom every year, pretty-much along the lines of Hurricane Katrina (though of course, not always so close to home), but to have two natural disasters that killed more than ten thousand people each is jarring.

Still all part of random chance though.

 

[questioner]

Which of the issues I mentioned on the OP really scares you?

(To me the Bird Flu is going to be big! I read that people will wake up fine and get sick at lunch time and die by dinner)

 

[bicker]

Nothing specifically. Life is life. What will be will be regardless of the news. You can live your life in fear, or you can live you life with joy -- your choice.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I was recently laid up after foot trouble...........I am scared to death after watch 24 hour news

Sorry to hear you are scared, Q, my best on the foot thing.

 

[Kitty 34]

Even the weather channel seems to sensationalize!! I think it almost kills them to say a region is going to be simply warm and sunny.

 

[bicker]

They're just giving us what we want, as demonstrated by how much we reward them with what they need when they do what they do.

 

[azgal81]

That's why I don't watch the news. I get more scared by the local news anywayse because that's happening where I'm at! I try not to let it bother me though because I don't want to be fearful of things that might not even happen.

 

[answerer]

You didn't phrase your post in the form of a question.

 

[tone.def]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! This is a funny thread! I work in Canadian News - at CBC, a 24 hour news channel and I have to tell you how much American News makes us laugh, seriously. I'll never forget Betty Ngyugen on CNN one Sunday morning teling people not to fly because of the elevated terror alert and "better be safe than sorry". That is utter sensetionalization. You would never catch a Canadian anchor saying anything remotely close to that.

Bird Flu- We don't need to worry. Go eat that chicken! Just refain from eating chicken in Taiwan...

The War in Iraq - I just can't comment on this thread. I'll be flamed to no end. All I can say is that there has been research and more research unearthed about it's orchestration...

Big Storms - the fault of global warming, scientifically proven. Did you know the ice caps are melting too? Glaciers are going to slide from the Arctic all the way to the Gulf Coast!!! Park your SUV and get that hybrid car now!

Terror Attack - please don't worry, we've had an immenent one on Bay Street in Toronto every day since 9/11. Just get on with your life. The majority of the media in the United States in controlled by the right (Fox News director being first cousin of the Bushies... they want you to think George W. is the only man who can protect you. As long as one doesn't happen on his watch - it was him who saved you - all of you and it was all W's doing.)

The New York Subway - highly unlikely. If this was true, it's now been exposed and it won't happen - at least not this weekend, maybe they'll lay low for a week. Maybe Osama Bin Laden will surface with a tape calling the West swines and pigs again for foiling him.

Gas Prices: Not likely. Um, they're actually dropping right now... Our gas is cheaper here right now than it has been in over 2 months.

Inflation is coming: Well, your deficit from the war has to be re-covered somehow! And you know what's gonna happen - it's not going to impact for about 3 or 4 years from now... and a Democrat prez will be blamed, mark my words.

I'm not sure where your anchors some from (a little town called Stepford maybe???), but they're way prettier than ours. Even our men anchors aren't hot.


Not that I'm saying I'm going to do this, but I once had this thought, at the height of the abducted westerners in the Middle East having these videos done begging for their lives, I've often thought about what would happen if one was made here, a white back-woods yokel wearing plaid, grabs a person of middle east decent and makes a video with a sawed-off shotgun pointed at this person's head having that person begging Osama for his life, to stop with the terror threats and attacks... and then ship the video to Fox AND Al Jazeera, just to see what would happen... Would all h-e-double-hockey-sticks break loose?

 

[Sparx]

I know what you mean. I got hurt once and I had to stay in bed (two years ago) and I watched alot of news and daytime talk shows. I really don't watch much news now, because of all the sensationalism. I watch some afternoon stuff, and I read some of the paper, but mostly, I don't like watching the news.