Giving up TV and Media.

RobertBurden | 01:59 Wed 24th Jan 2007 | Body & Soul

19 Answers

Part of me wishes to give up watching tv and reading newspapers because so often it is negative. A house without a tv is an obsurd gesture in today's living.
Is the media too negative and bad? For instance always reporting on bad stuff, does this make the viewer feel better???

glasses - is there a way to get rid of minute scratches?

work

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babydust

television corrupts the brain

lady_p_gold

My father does not have a television, television or radio and at first it seems very weird, but it is absolutely amazing how liberating it is. You find you do all the things you meant to do, you take time to cook properly and do creative things, and simple pleasures seem to be heightened as you are not 'half' watching the tv all time. Having said that I have to be honest and say I am glad when I get back to reality, but it is certainly worth a try as a sort of 'detox'.

lady_p_gold

Telephone I meant, no telephone either, or mobile ! The only way I can contact him is by letter or when he calls from a phonebox on his way to the pub!

bednobs

hiya robertburden
there is a "media" section a bit further down, where you might get more responses. This section is for body and soul questions

lily-lady

bednobs...you really are a miserable old bint aren't you! You never answer a question constructively, just moan on about correctness...... if you don't work for AB just why don't you just click report and let the powers that be deal with it. Or does moaning at other peoples posts make you feel important?

makemesmile

I know what you mean - sometimes, when there's so much depressing news around, I find myself 'switching off' to it for a bit. Maybe that seems like I'm a bit out of touch with reality, but there's only so much bad stuff I can take! I'm not saying we should only be 'fed' the nice stories, that really would be wrong and dangerous, but it can get a bit much sometimes.

bednobs

ach, i love the irony of a moany post moaning about my moaning! lol - why didnt you just take your own advice and reort my answer?
Anyway, i DO answer and ask questions on here, as a search of my name would tell you, it just suits you to think i dont. Plus, i dont think that was a miserable answer ... i very nicely pointed out it was in the wrong section, so that when it gets moved we dont get 5 posts saying "wheres that "media" post gone?" "some miserable so and so has banned it" etc. What id the point in having categories if its just a free for all? i'd have to wade through questions about football and cars before i got to the questions i was interested in or could help on. I personally dont see anything wrong with giving someone a nudge in the right direction.

bednobs

4getmenot

bednobs how is this the wrong section???? Its about soul and how you feel. And what a great question robertburden. Its not always bad stuff and I'm sure if you dont like some things theres an off switch. My friend watched tv but refuses to watch the news because it is depressing, which is a shame because the news is real life. I dont mind as there is some things on TV that have me crying out of happiness or out of sadness. Like life it has its ups and downs.

bednobs

hmmm well i would have thought a question about media "is the media too negative and bad" would go in the "media" section.
At the end of things i suppose it dosen't matter in the slightest, i just get paranoid about this section because its used as a rubbish dump for everything, and the complete jewels are lost amongst the rubbish. I'm not interested in football, therefore i dont go to the football section. Im not interested in science, therefore i dont go to the science section. I AM interested in body and soul, therefore i come to this section to ask and answer questions about that. sometimes i wonder if people even realise there are other sections!
To answer the question, (it seems a bit churlish not to as i'm filling up robertburdens inbox with all this other tripe)
i agree, i never read newspapers, and dont watch too much tv. I find the radio a bit more balanced somehow, so i wouldn't give that up (fivelive)

4getmenot

Yes it could go in that section aswell but that gives you no right to say this is the wrong section, who are you to say its wrong. Its thoughts and feelings, it could also go in news section. Take your own advice it doesnt matter in the slightest, use the report button if it does, no need to add all those pages to someones question, which as I said is a very good one. Enjoy the day :-)

lily-lady

sorry bednobd.....did I hit a nerve?

makemesmile

Oh my god - WAY too much negativity for a Wednesday morning - I'm off!

yolande

I think this post is in exactly the right place. The questions basically is about how having TV etc affects your 'soul'. I have just stopped reading Heat after realising how negative it is especially about appearance. Would like to do the same with most TV but I am hooked!

makemesmile

I'm with you on that, yolande! I used to buy Heat, Now and all the other 'look at what she's wearing' magazines, but got sick of how negative they are. If someone came up to me and 'I can't believe you're wearing/looking like that in public' i'd be crushed. So, in the spirit of sisterhood, I'm not going to support someone doing it to others.

Pippa68

I like my TV. It is nice & relaxing to sit down to a good drama or something amusing after the kids have gone to bed. I can always switch it off or change channels if something depressing is on.

However I gave up reading newspapers years ago. I scan the cover of a magazine to see if there may be an interesting article..and if there isn't I don't buy it.

Some people love the depressing soap operas, nightly news bulletins giving them fear & dread. Some thrive on it, in fact. I liken it to my great uncle who scans the obituries in the Telegraph every day. It certainly doesn't make me feel better!

Panic Button

I am a bit of a news junkie, but sometimes I worry that I watch the news as a form of 'entertainment'.

I suppose that if I cut myself off from it my life wouldn't be far different, but do I have a 'duty' to be aware of the suffering of others? I don't know

joko

i think it all depends on what you watch, read or listen to.

having a tv does not force you to watch mindless drivel - there is plenty of good stuff on - it is what you make of it.

so may people feel it makes them a better person and appear intellectual to 'claim' they don't watch tv (when you know they actually do)

its quite sad that someone would feel a sense of personal pride at this - especially since most of the people who decry it, do actually watch it.

it has become almost cool!
i feel sorry for people like this. they have huffed and blowed about this in an attempt to appear cerebral, when all they are actually doing is cutting themselves off from a potential source of fun and knowledge....as a great man once said - "i'd far rather be happy than right"

and the ones who actually don't watch tv, perhaps they should!!
then at least they would be qualified to talk about it.

people who cut themselves off from the bigger world are not better people - they are secular and insular.

its like me saying i don't like blue cheese, so therefore all cheese is off limits!
well you can avoid the dairylea and the cheesestrings and head for the camembert and the brie can't you?

look at what happens to people who live this way?
you get the small town mentality, the lynch mobs and pitch forks, the hillbillys, the hicks, royston vasey....not good eh?

ladyshy

Hi Robert,

Up until about a month or so a go I didn't have a telly and had lived happily without one for about six months. I seem to remember that initially I found it frustrating but after that it got so I hardly noticed it was gone.

However I like DVDs so I eventually got another one and I have to say that it is nice to be able to watch them again. Unfortunately there's way too much drivel on TV these days (in my opinon) so I tend not to watch actual telly too much unless there's something on that I actually want to see.

As for giving up the media entirely. I woudn't. Yes there's bad stuff out there but would you really rather it went unreported? That doesn't make sense.

And hey... if there's bog all on,.... you can always read a book. Just be selective in your viewing and you should be fine.

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