from www.sxc.hu by kkiser
At Polishing the Pulpit, a teacher for one of the ladies’ class told this story of her parents after their retirement. They had lots of time on their hands and they watched the news on TV for hours out of the day. She noticed their attitude was becoming more negative each time she visited them. She decided to take them a jig-saw puzzle. When she arrived, her father asked her, “What was the purpose of the puzzle?” She said it is because you all need to turn the news off and do something different. They didn’t realize what the news was doing to them!
The news is an entertainment industry. They are trying to keep you hooked on watching. They do their best to make the stories interesting and appealing. But the problem comes when we watch too much news. Not only is it a big time waster, but it is also very negative. Don’t believe me, consider these quotes:
“Media studies show that bad news far outweighs good news by as much as seventeen negative news reports for every one good news report.”¹
“Many studies have shown that we care more about the threat of bad things than we do about the prospect of good things. Our negative brain tripwires are far more sensitive than our positive triggers. We tend to get more fearful than happy. And each time we experience fear we turn on our stress hormones.”¹
Another study published in a medical journal found that “watching news on television triggers persisting negative psychological feelings that could not be buffered by attention-diverting distraction, but only by a directed psychological intervention such as progressive relaxation.”²
Studies have shown that the news significantly effects peoples worries and fears.
My Thoughts
- There is so much negative and disturbing news today because of the technology and global nature of our news. Consider how much news someone received before our mass media inventions. Now when there is a problem in a far-off state we hear about it in minutes. This additional news coverage only helps to create more negative news and more fear and worries in our hearts.
- How much good really comes from watching the news? I believe we need to be somewhat informed and involved in our present world as Christians. We don’t need to just stick our head in the sand, but how much does it take to stay somewhat informed? Do we really need to keep up-to-date on all of the latest crimes and political maneuvering? Use the internet, local news sources, news apps to get the headlines, but don’t spend hours watching the news. It will affect your attitude!
- My thought would be to balance our news intake with other information we put into our minds. In a marriage, counselors say it takes at least 5 positive to balance 1 negative comment. Considering the news is 17 negative to 1 positive what should we balance it out with if we are going to watch the news? Let me encourage you to read some good books, positive and encouraging blogs, Christian literature, and of course, the Bible. Listen to podcasts or watch sports rather than the news. Watch humorous shows or other entertaining shows rather than the news.
So maybe you need to go buy a jig-saw puzzle, find a new hobby, sit outside on the front porch, or find a new show to watch. But turn off the 24×7 news coverage because likely you can’t do anything to change it and it will only depress you.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
(Philippians 4:8 ESV)
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¹ Taken from the article – Why we Love Bad News at Psychology Today
² Taken from the abstract about the Article “Negative Psychological Effects of Watching the News in Television”
