Tune the Media Out, and Tune Your Soul In

I am going to use my time in this blog to stray off the topic of addiction and recovery and share my passionate feelings on one aspect of the Newtown tragedy that I feel is not being talked about.  I am going to direct my comments specifically at those in the news media, for I see that they have yet again taken to the airwaves with around-the-clock sensationalism. They seize every opportunity to capitalize on ratings without the slightest thought that what they are doing may be setting the wheels in motion for the next big attack.

Last Friday, as word was coming out of what had happened, I found myself in places where people had the news on so they could receive the latest information.  Most of the information that came out ended up being incorrect, distorted, and sensationalized.  For crying out loud, they didn’t even get the killer’s name right!…the very name that they will use every time there is a horrific event such as this going forward.

Each member of the media wasted no time applying their own agenda to the tragedy:  gun control, security measures, mental illness, politics, bullying.  The list goes on and on.  What was missing?  The media never focused on themselves.  I am willing to bet that not once have the words “we in the media are a huge part of this problem” been uttered over the airwaves.  I will also to go out on a limb and say that that the media would not be willing to admit the possibility that they are urging on the next killing spree by continuously letting us know who the current leader in mass killing is.

There are mentally challenged, socially inept, psychopathic people living in our society, sitting in front of the cable news shows all day and all night while the overly dramatic tones of the newscasters drone on and on about the same topics.  Have you noticed that they are on loops?  Every hour the same stories over and over, just adding a little more drama disguised as information to keep you sitting in front of the television to get the latest tidbit of misinformation.

These deranged, lonely, isolated people are far too easy prey for the good-looking, intelligent-speaking commentators on the screen.  They see their opportunity for fame.  They are very aware of the notoriety the other socially disabled psychopaths have received.  Every time something like this happens the news networks start blaring the names of the killers at Columbine and Virginia Tech, reminding us what their kill totals where and what the new bar has been raised to.  These killers live in infamy due to the media’s unrelenting worship.

Many prominent figures have weighed in on the Newtown massacre, each offering their own solution or thoughts on how we got here and how we can get out.  I believe this is a “we” problem — we see this happening, we sit in front of our high-definition televisions and pad the news show ratings, we beg them for more information.  Do we really need to know anymore than “a deranged person stormed a school and took the lives of innocent human beings?”  We don’t need to know the who, what, where, how, and how many.  We just don’t.  It does not matter.  What matters is it happened.  Now we have to decide who we are around it and what we want to do about it, if anything.

I had made a decision a year or so ago to turn off the news.  We stopped watching the morning news, nightly news, breaking news, live-team-coverage news, hurricane-watch news, the all of it.  The level of peace and serenity I felt increased exponentially.  I had had a similar awakening a few  years prior to that.  I used to be a faithful listener of talk radio.  I had the whole day lineup from the morning guy, to the midday guy, to the afternoon-drive guy.  I let them have space in my head for free.  And by the end of each day, I had the talking points memorized.  One by one, it became clear to me that the sounds they were sending my way were not who I was, nor who I wanted to be.  When I turned the talk shows off and turned on the sounds that felt more in line with who I was, I found a higher place of beingness.  I found that my head became filled with my heart messages and not someone else’s words.  I was in control of my beliefs.  This is a powerful place, friends.  I invite you to join it with me.

Tune out and tune in.  You will not be missing anything.  You will hear about the important events that happen in the world.  You will still have the opportunity to express and declare who you are and what you believe about them.  You will actually be much clearer about who that is without all the mis-information the media provides.  You can find news outlets that you can regulate.  You can stay informed and create your own thoughts and feelings around the information you choose to give priority to.

We do not need the cable news shows telling us what to think and feel.  They use fear as a tool to keep people listening.  When was the last time the news gave you anything you needed or protected you from harm?  Why not turn off the TV and turn on some music that will bring a smile to your lips or a tear to your eye?  Let your Soul hear something that welcomes it into your living room.

So this is my soapbox around the Newtown tragedy.  What is yours?

(Kevin McCormack is a Conversations with God Life Coach, a Spiritual helper on www.changingchange.net, Addictions recovery advisor.  To connect with Kevin please email him at Kevin@theglobalconversation.com)

Comments

6 responses to “Tune the Media Out, and Tune Your Soul In”

  1. SL Avatar
    SL

    Dear Kevin,

    I have made the same choice a few years ago and find myself better for it too. I find the news that need to reach me always do somehow, and the ones that don’t get filtered out!
    Thanks for your article 🙂

    Love,

    SL

  2. Therese Avatar
    Therese

    Kevin, I have a theory- we are “addicted” to the news. Fear and anger are adrenaline producing and would create a need for more, would it not? Add to that the possibility of the subliminal messages…who knows?

    T.

    S.L., I, too, have mostly turned off the news.

  3. Michael Killpartrick Avatar
    Michael Killpartrick

    Hi Kevin

    I Chatted with you the other day re: Coaching just so it might ring some bells.

    Anywayas always all very good comments and the suggestion, not to listen to the NEWS i believe is a good one, i too have stopped watching the “BAD NEWS”, that is what it should be listed as and displayed on the TV but from the the very first story it’s “Mayhem,Death,Murder,Maximium sentence handed down” Blah blah blah blah blah.
    Now as much as one can ell themselves “Something good will come from this” being the humans that we still are Brain Body and Soul one can’t help but feel a little drained, OMG give me some good NEWS for goodness sake.
    What if we only broadcast the “GOOD NEWS” i wonder if the world might, just might be in a slightly different state and state of mind ?.
    That would i feel give all those severely and not so mentally challenged people something else to aspire too.
    We live in crazy times run by crazy people what do we end up with more than we should ?.

    Love to all Mike

  4. Ralph Vaughn Avatar
    Ralph Vaughn

    I think this incident created by God to further Humanity’s evolution is opening up the topic of dysfunctional mother/son relationships; the precise effect information technology is having on male psyche (women do not seem to engage in this type of behavior) since this violent shooter went to great lengths
    to destroy his hard-drive and was successful; also, the single mother trying to raise a son without the father apparently and the whole issue of home-schooling.
    Also, labeling him mentally ill while he was no doubt soulfully engaged in the
    killing of 28 people including himself seems to beg a lot of questions that might
    not otherwise be raised. Your criticism of the media is part of the media since
    the Media is one gigantic Electroniconsciousness that unfolds, reverses, bends back on itself in endless patterns but the neo-McLuhanism THE MEDIUM IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE MESSAGES IT PROCESSES…. unless it isn’t …STILL APPLIES! It’s time for all of us to get off our soapboxes and clean up our acts. Symbolic interpretation of events that are in themselves symbolic
    opens up a can of worms that act as bait for many stray fishes out there in media audience land. But, hey symbolic tomfoolery is fun so let’s keep speaking out about what is really going on on the inside where the Kingdom of God is directly experienced by all who are still enough to notice.

  5. Erin/IAm Avatar
    Erin/IAm

    Very cool perspective, Kevin! Words that sooo needed said…and excellent advice for the wise, indeed.:)

    However, as a power-filled business, one cannot deny that their ways ‘work’ for them. Our ‘news’ is entirely presented through the esthetics learned in Psych class, and they are verrry much aware of their ‘market’…What ‘they want’ to sense…What will get their blood pumpin’ & their minds focused.

    Kinda funny, yes? It’s all about the look, the sound, the color, the words, that ‘move the moment’ of homo sapiens, large scale. And isn’t that what ‘We’ are trying to do?…Guide the minds & hearts of humanity, big time? Same itinerary, just a different directive.

    They are in the ‘entertainment biz’…Heck, they Are the entertainment biz! And doesn’t Information, whether fact or fiction, entertain our humanity immensely…insanely, even? No other creature on this planet seems as ‘dis-eased’…nor do they seem to lack entertainment options. Hmmm…right? God, bless ’em, “…for they know (Exactly) what they do!”:)

    I remanaged my personal attention to medial input as you did, and it has served very well, I must say. And sooo love the tunes, too…Awesome medium of expression & ‘mover of moments’.:)

    Good Journey, Kevin!
    p.s. as far as Newtown…no worries, many Littles will be coming & going over the next few years…They are power-packed in their own way, too.:)

  6. Lynn Avatar
    Lynn

    Kevin and Mike,
    When I watch the news, it is NBC at night. At the end of the 30 minutes they will often air a heart-warming story about something good in the world. I always say to my husband, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they OPENED with that story?” But I like your idea better. How about 30 minutes of good news? I think it would be easy to find because people are basically good and good goes on around us all the time, often unnoticed. And if people could recognize how good it feels to do something kind for someone else, maybe the Newtowns of this world would be changed from rampages of violence to rampages of goodness. That’s my fantasy, anyway.
    Here’s to happy thoughts,
    Lynn

    “Rampages of goodness” That is so awesome, you need to copyright that term! Can you see it now, the headline story on The Global Conversation; “MAN AND WOMAN SET NEW WORLD RECORD FOR RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS!” Imagine the world where we kept track of that kind of statistic! WOO HOO girl you brought it with this post!
    Kevin

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