After my last post, the one about how Jon Stewart called 24/7 cable news “brutish, low witted beasts” and other names, I decided to revisit my own relationship with cable news.
I’ve actually decided to cut ties with cable news altogether. No mas. That’s right, I no longer watch them–MSNBC, CNN, FNC, doesn’t matter which one, I have now decided to tune out entirely. This decision to let go of cable news is not a boycott or anything crazy like that, but rather a new spiritual practice for me.
Recently, I have been studying Buddhism in the hopes of quieting my mind, simplifying my lifestyle, cleaning the clutter, and centering on what is elemental and essential and slowly walking away from the rest. And this spiritual practice of walking away from wall-to-wall news has become the main behavior modification that I have decided to make. That’s part of the reason why I haven’t posted much in recent weeks.
After more than a week of making the decision to tune out cable news, I definitely feel less anxious. One of the things Jon Stewart has said about cable news is that it creates a false sense of urgency. Anything and everything reported on in 24/7 news is made into a crisis by those who report it. From legitimate crises like hurricanes and the people affected by them all the way down to the stupid stuff like high speed car chases, everything on cable news is spun into frenzy.
So, enough. Enough for me. I’m a week into my new way of engaging the world. Instead of 24/7 news, I now choose to tune into more responsible ways of staying up-to-date. I get my news now from Jim Lehrer at PBS, BBC, and NPR websites. And sometimes from the Huffington Post.
And suddenly it seems right to digest the entire day’s news in 30-minute summaries at the end of the day. You know, The Daily Show way.
