We are in a fast paced brave new world

[Value Buy]

Talking with family and friends the last few weeks about the Middle East and now Japan, with earthquakes and nuclear disasters occurring daily, we have come to the conclusion, it is all the medias's fault!
Thirty years ago we received our news from CBS, NBC, and ABC nightly news.
News reports were virtually 24 hours old, from the time of the actual occurrence. It took reported two days to a week to get to the actual area they reported on. The battle would be over by then.
Fifty years ago we had to wait for two or three weeks for the weekly or monthly news magazines, Look, Time, etc, to release the photographs of the disasters and explain what happened.

Now we twitter, Facebook, skype and have it instantaneous. Sometimes the reports are not 100% correct, but they were not all correct fifty years ago either.
Is the sky actually falling, or are we just media overloaded today?

Maybe we all have to step away from the 24/7 reports for a day, and take a deepbreath, for our mental health.
But then what the heck would we miss?

[workpublic]

But then what the heck would we miss?



what lindsey lohan's father had for dinner and where? ;D
charlie sheens last thought?

[floridayankee]

I could stand to miss out on a few news reports of every single cloud in the air between Africa and the US / Mexico / Caribbean during hurricane season.

[Gardening Grandma]

Mar 15, 2011 8:46:22 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Talking with family and friends the last few weeks about the Middle East and now Japan, with earthquakes and nuclear disasters occurring daily, we have come to the conclusion, it is all the medias's fault!
Thirty years ago we received our news from CBS, NBC, and ABC nightly news.
News reports were virtually 24 hours old, from the time of the actual occurrence. It took reported two days to a week to get to the actual area they reported on. The battle would be over by then.
Fifty years ago we had to wait for two or three weeks for the weekly or monthly news magazines, Look, Time, etc, to release the photographs of the disasters and explain what happened.

Now we twitter, Facebook, skype and have it instantaneous. Sometimes the reports are not 100% correct, but they were not all correct fifty years ago either.
Is the sky actually falling, or are we just media overloaded today?

I do believe that the instaneaous nature of the news is one factor in the increased fear in the population. Bad things have always happened (crime, disaster), but people seem so much more fearful these days than at any time I can remember. (And that includes the fear during the cold war)

Maybe we all have to step away from the 24/7 reports for a day, and take a deepbreath, for our mental health.

We actually do that every year for a few days. After Christmas, we go out to the coast and rent a cabin for three days. There is no TV or phone in the cabins. No cell service and no internet. Often winter storms will cause electric outages. We take books and music and walk on the beach rain or shine. Somehow we don't even seem to miss not knowing what's going on in the world.

[floridayankee]

Mar 15, 2011 10:20:25 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

We actually do that every year for a few days. After Christmas, we go out to the coast and rent a cabin for three days. There is no TV or phone in the cabins. No cell service and no internet. Often winter storms will cause electric outages. We take books and music and walk on the beach rain or shine. Somehow we don't even seem to miss not knowing what's going on in the world.

Sounds fantastic! When we visit DW's mom in the middle of nowhere, MO, (nearest wally world is an hour+ away) she always apologizes for such a boring little town.

Boring is pretty damned nice for an occasional long weekend vacation.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

At least we don't have to hear about Charlie Sheen's tiger blood and his ho hos.