Gina, that's a great question.  I know several people who don't watch television or keep up with news.  I'm often the one who informs them of major news events.  I've wondered the same thing.

Colleen, your comment reminds me of something I wrote on Facebook last year just to share with my friends.  It was about fear-based marketing.  All of the advertisements now seem to prey on our fears to sell their products. 

So, do you not vote or get involved in school boards? If you do, how do you decide who/ what to support? How can you know that certain person is going to do something you agree or disagree with?

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Cindy said ...
Issues of the day and policy?  Those never change - it is always about money or telling people how they should live. 

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Hey Gina,

That is a fair question and one that does make people wonder. When I check my email all the current headlines are there for me to see, at that point I have the choice to read on, or ignore.  I have found in the last 3 years, that I have opted out of television and radio news, I have not ever been sucked into an "informational vacuum".  My  friends and family, facebook connections, water cooler talk, and weather bug, keep me in the loop without me even trying. 

For me I see the media's marketing schemes as preying on society's fears to hook us into their upcoming broadcast, "Airliner crashed into the Pacific" ..full story at 9, "City-wide layoffs", join us at 10, "Woman raped in her home"...don't miss our late night news for all the details...sweet dreams...I don't think so, not for me anyway.

Truly my head isn't in the sand, I just choose to focus on the good flowing on our blue planet and acknowledging the glimpses of grace that surround me each day.

 I am aware of the headlines that are screaming at me everywhere I turn, and I just see them as a reminder that I need to be the change that I want to see on this planet. 

It was a great question Gina!

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Gina said ...
If you don't follow any news source whatsoever, how do you make decisions on things like politics, public policy, etc? How do you know what the issues at hand even are? How do you know when, let's say, a hurricane is coming your way? Or that the freeway on your way to work has been closed?

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So, Colleen, you do follow some news, just not regularly, right? You get news from whatever your preset homepage is.

It definitely takes more time to research.  If interested enough in something that comes up I will ask questions of people I know who are interested, read or view interviews of the candidates, read their literature, talk to their people to see how they are (do they welcome questions or are they defensive).  Like I said, it takes more time so I always ask myself if my time is better served elsewhere.

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Gina said ...
So, do you not vote or get involved in school boards? If you do, how do you decide who/ what to support? How can you know that certain person is going to do something you agree or disagree with?

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Gina, I don't know if I would consider it "following" the news, I know I am playing with semantics here, but more of glancing at the headlines and occasionally clicking on something that calls to me.  Yep, and it comes from my "friendly" homepage.

And by the way Gina, your Fantasy Casting blog is so fun and creative!

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Gina said ...
So, Colleen, you do follow some news, just not regularly, right? You get news from whatever your preset homepage is.

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I am a news junkie - I love politics, grew up in a very political family, and current events were dinner table conversation.  I have very strong ideas, and love a good exchange of ideas - what I have absolutely no tolerance for is name calling because someone sees things differently than I do. 

I do not watch any ABC, NBC or CBS.  I am not interested in their opinions.  In fairness I watch very little TV - I go for weeks - maybe months and never turn it on.  However, reading is a whole different story.  I read all points of view - everything from the radical left to the neo-cons on the right. 

I love how people arrive at their views.  I am amazed at how people can take the same facts and come to such different conclusions.

As much as I love being in the mix, and following things I also take huge gaps of time and completely go off the grid in order to recharge, and its always a very strange feeling to plug back in, and not have a clue what has been going on - there is an innocence in not knowing.....

So, that makes way more sense. I understand exactly what you mean, I just get confused when people say they NEVER listen to or watch ANY news.

I appreciate you answering honestly, I have never been able to ask people about this without them thinking I am attacking them.

You choose your news sources carefully, and you don't "plug in" unless it's something important to you, which I can understand; and it certainly makes more sense than the proverbial informational vacuum I was picturing :)

Thanks for the compliment on my blog, BTW, I think it's fun, and it's always nice to hear others think so too :)

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Colleen said ...
Gina, I don't know if I would consider it "following" the news, I know I am playing with semantics here, but more of glancing at the headlines and occasionally clicking on something that calls to me.  Yep, and it comes from my "friendly" homepage.

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Me too. My jaw sometimes hits the floor when I see someone with the exact same information I have, come to a completely different conclusion.

But, that's what makes the world go round :)

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Lisa said ...
I love how people arrive at their views.  I am amazed at how people can take the same facts and come to such different conclusions.

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