I'm Going Back to Reading the Newspaper and Turning Off the Television

I would love to hear the News' reporters on television say - even just one time, "We don't have any news for you today. Have a great day." I'm so tired of it all. I can't stand the overly-dramatic voices of most of the newscasters relaying news to you like it's the most horrible news in the world - as if the world is going to end. Of course it's understandable when it is something very important and related to danger and/or death, but I'm referring to using that overly dramatic tone of voice to relay something small and simple, such as a cactus that fell. I don't think newscasters realize how nervous their tone of voice can make some viewers. My other pet-peeve is the way they repeat the same news over and over, just to fill the empty spot(s) when they don't have any new news to talk about. Put those two together - the overly dramatic tone of voice combined with hearing the same words over and over and you can imagine how nervous and annoyed it can make a viewer, if you're not one of these irritated viewers already. I've tried switching channels and watching other news' broadcasts and it never fails for them to have at least one newscaster like this on there, too.

Serious talk show hosts are the same way and they speculate - imagining and assuming the worst outcome. A 21 year old mother flees from Arizona to Texas with her 8 month old baby, as she's in the midst of a terrible child-custody battle with the child's father. She tells the father she killed the baby, put his body in a diaper bag and then in a dumpster. At the same time we hear from a couple talking about how the child's mother made several attempts to give her baby away. In the meantime, I saw on her Myspace page that she had her previous status as a "proud parent." The mother's car is found in Texas near the hotel she stayed at, with a diaper bag inside the car. The mother is finally caught in Florida without the baby. In jail she refuses to talk to anyone about what happened to the baby and at times refuses to leave her cell to attend a court appearance because she knows that no matter what, she'll still remain in jail. A serious talk show host (I won't mention her name) speaks about this behavior of hers as extremely selfish - that of a selfish brat. In other words, if there's nothing positive in it for her (she'll still be kept in jail), she's not talking. Such drama - imaging and assuming the worst. Personally, I don't think she killed her baby and I see it as a loving mother trying to protect her baby. I see her as a young mother who would rather give her baby to a loving couple than to the father who for some reason she feels is unfit to be a father. It could also be because of a grudge she has against the father for not staying with her too. In other words, "If you don't want me, then you can't have the baby." I could be wrong, but I don't feel that she went as far as to kill the baby. They would never make me a serious talk show host, such as the one I'm thinking of above, because no one could stay tuned in to a show day after day that doesn't have drama and doesn't keep the viewers curious. Even the viewers become unqualified detectives trying to solve the case. And how many times have I seen the same show, or heard the same information repeated over and over within a show? "Breaking News" meanwhile it's at least the fifth time I've heard it.

Gossip - entertainment shows are not any better. For a start, the same question always goes back and forth... Do reporters, photographers, etc. have the right to pry into the lives of actors and actresses and always be "in their face?" Some people say, "That comes with being an actor, or an actress." For example, feeling that Tiger Woods should have a press conference explaining to the public why he cheated on his wife and he should answer everyone's questions about it too. On the other hand, Tiger Woods keeps saying it's a private matter and he refuses to talk to the public about it beyond the basics that can be read in the police report. In no way am I defending Tiger Woods here. I think what he did to his wife and children is terrible beyond words can express. Entertainment shows release constant details of actors' and actresses' lives that we couldn't care less about. We know for a fact that Sandra Bullock's husband, Jesse James, cheated on her, she moved out and is filing for a divorce. The entertainment shows' hosts go on to analyze, "Were his Nazi poses a sign?"; "Were his mistress's poses a connection to him?" They speculate, "What happens if Sandra Bullock stays in the marriage?" I say, Why do we care so much? It's her business what she does and it's none of our business. Who cares if A was connected to B? He did what he did and now they both have to deal with the consequences. Why not just wait and see what they show us they have decided to do and what will go on from here? Notice how the news of David Letterman cheating on his wife quickly disappeared as news, as soon as the affairs of Tiger Woods became public. Today I heard Jennifer Lopez talk about how she keeps her twins away from the public eye. It made me think that the paparazzi probably take more pictures of actors' and actresses' children than they do. Parents, relatives and friends usually take pictures of children as they grow and progress. How many times have we seen a picture of Suri Cruise and she looks no different than the picture we just saw of her yesterday? Photographers took a picture of white stuff coming out of Lindsay Lohan's shoes. Oh my goodness, everyone speculated it was cocaine. She claims it's baby powder. Hasn't every one of us put baby powder in our shoes at least once in our life to combat the odor and the sweating when not wearing socks? Why speculate and assume it's the worst? I remember how much trouble we used to get into as children, when we spread a rumor. Today we pay people to do it - and their salaries are extremely high.

I rather read the newspaper. I can read what I want to read and I don't have to read what I choose not to. If I've read enough, I can fold it, put it down, save the rest for later, or recycle it if I'm done with it. I don't have to hear any overly dramatic voices as I become informed of what's going on in my city and in the rest of the world. I won't be reading the same news twice. Did you know that newspaper reporters can only make their articles within a certain amount of inches, as to comply with the space on the page they will be printed on? I prefer to learn the truth. When newspaper reporters write the wrong information and it has already gone to print, they have to write a retraction in an upcoming edition of the newspaper.