TVphobia-- neurotic or healthy?

[carolinayellowdog]

Hey,

Surely I'm not alone in this, so I'd like to hear from others with the same affliction (or is it?) Starting with election night 2000, I began to hate TV news media with the same intensity as the messages they were transmitting. After 12/12/00 I simply stopped watching TV news altogether because the media bore so much responsibility for the Bush coup that it turned my stomach to watch it. (Kathleen Hall Jamieson's latest book offers objective documentation of that responsibility, which for me was a gut intuition.) By the time I moved in 2001 and discovered that my satellite receiver wouldn't work in the new house due to neighbor's trees, it was a relief to pull the plug entirely and give up non-news TV as well. Having briefly relented from my boycott in order to watch 9/11 coverage, I ended up associating TV with horror even more than before. Now two years TV-free, I don't miss entertainment programming any more than news. Maybe I'll catch an hour or so per week while visiting relatives and friends, but nothing I've seen has made me miss having it at home.

What does make me miss it is DU. While I've been a Dean supporter from the beginning of his campaign due to what I learn from reading, I'm quite clueless about how he and the other candidates come across on TV. The passions inspired by the candidates here seem to be based on their TV persona, and for anyone who doesn't watch TV it all seems unreal. Part of me is satisfied with that; my emotional well-being is much greater since I pulled the plug, and I would never want to feel the intense passion some DUers do about the candidates. But on the other hand there is some concern that this is neurotic avoidance, and especially in an election year good citizenship demands that I get over it.

Have you experienced TVphobia since the Bush coup, and if so how has it progressed since then?

CYD

[supernova]

1. Still have TV, but watch the news less and less

I read more news than watch it. I still watch Dan Rather most nights. And I will watch the BBC World News (it's on our local PBS station). But I will always compare that to what I read either in hard print or online.

I catch certain programs I'm fond of during the week (like Angel), but I mostly use the TV for movie viewing. It's more that I dislike repeated commercial interruptions.

[Robb]

2. Really just a movie machine for me

The news and networks just drive me nuts. But I don't think the TV itself is "evil", really.

Now the toaster that makes fun of me: that sucker is EVIL!!

[mhr]

3. TV Free For Several Years Now, Don't Miss It, Read More, Do More Now

TV is an incredible waste of time.

It would be nice if more people figured this out!

[beyurslf]

4. I used to leave the tv on news all day and evening.

Now I can't stand most anything on CNN and never liked Fox. MSNBC is just a cheap version of Fox. I never watched network news. Aaron Brown is about all I have left.

[Options Remain]

5. turned off my tv

five or six years ago. The only time it gets turned on is to watch Dvd's.

TearForger

[BiggJawn]

6. I can't even GET to my TV...Too much crap in the way!

And I watch some over at my Girlfriend's, but never at home.
The Internet is MUCH more fun for wasting endless hours in the evening and on weekends....

[KoKo]

7. I go through phases where I keep it all off. Only watch News anyway, so

"all" means the cable and network news. Every time I "creep back for a peek" it disappoints after a couple of days. There aren't the discussion shows I remember from years ago. Now what passes for "discussion" is shouting matches with "eye popping" graphics and split screens designed to distract. I've never watched Faux (never had the stomach to watch a bunch of RW hacks),but, I think many DU'ers watch it and bring some of the hateful stuff said there back here to DU because they can't deal with the slant. Unfortunately, the next day they are back again watching Faux,Matthews or Scarborough or Crossfire and coming back here all upset again.

I don't think you are missing anything, except the Dem Debates which have all been interesting. You could watch them on C-Span Online,though, I think. I've liked Lou Dobbs lately for being the only one touching on the Economic Disasters going on in America with job loss, corporate crime, media dereg. He's the only place I've seen those issues reported. And CNN's Blitzer show on Sunday a.m. is to me, anyway better than Russert, or Steph and Schieffer.

Anyway,whatever you miss will be reported on DU, so unless you want to reconnect and pay all those $$$'s for the Cable or Sattelite Dish, then you will probably be a happier person avoiding the stress.
There's really not much out there unless you like hacks, pundits, loud music, drumb beats, and the distraction of all of the clutter on the screen while you learn absolutely nothing to enlighten yourself about issues that are important. The media is the worst I've ever seen it since Bush came in, and it was starting down during Clinton's last years in office. My 2 Cents worth, as an "off again, on again, viewer."

Stay Happy! Tune Out! :-)'s