Am I the only one who is weighed down by all of the negativity in the news? It doesn’t matter where you look.  It’s not just the politics, and that alone is more than enough.  

Every newspaper cover and every news channel has a negative lead.  Murder, death, war, violence, guns, politicians driving while drunk, the world is coming to an end, the world didn’t come to an end, President-bashing, computers hacked, unethical business practices…  And, then once it starts there is even more.  Even “Meet the Press” is full of drama. 

Okay, let’s turn the channel to something light…the choices: “Bad Girls,” “Atlanta Housewives,” Lifetime,” “Sci-Fi,” “Larry King”…the most
calming of which is the channel with mutants killing folks.  Hallmark, the channel with virtually no people of color, gays or sex, is pretty violence or conflict free.    

Aha, how about sports? Athlete kills girlfriend and then himself, police preparing for Super Bowl violence, cyclist stripped of titles, baseball Hall of Fame and steroids, football and head injuries…

How about a religious channel?  Pastor attacks wife in parking lot, pastor accused of sexual abuse, pastor goes to jail for fraud, church
covers up sexual abuse…

Good news gets suffocated in all of the bad news…the economy is turning around, manufacturing is up, new home sales strong,
unemployment claims hit five-year low, the people won, Princess Kate is pregnant, Jennifer Hudson is maintaining her weight loss and elephant seals are back from the brink of extinction and much, much more. 

Am I the only one that keeps my television parked at HGTV (Home and Garden Television) and TCM (Turner Classic Movies).  Now I am savvy enough to understand that the media is giving us what they think we want.  And that is driven by consumer choices.  Perhaps, I am in the minority.Okay, okay, I can’t help myself,  I have to watch the stuff because I am an information addict, but it is depressing…it has to be taking a toll.