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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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. \u00a0Most of the information that came out ended up being incorrect, distorted, and sensationalized. \u00a0For crying out loud, they didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Each member of the media wasted no time applying their own agenda to the tragedy: \u00a0gun control, security measures, mental illness, politics, bullying. \u00a0The list goes on and on. \u00a0What was missing?\u00a0 The media never focused on themselves.\u00a0 I am willing to bet that not once have the words \u201cwe in the media are a huge part of this problem\u201d been uttered over the airwaves.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 Have you noticed that they are on loops?\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
These deranged, lonely, isolated people are far too easy prey for the good-looking, intelligent-speaking commentators on the screen.\u00a0 They see their opportunity for fame.\u00a0 They are very aware of the notoriety the other socially disabled psychopaths have received.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These killers live in infamy due to the media\u2019s unrelenting worship.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Do we really need to know anymore than \u201ca deranged person stormed a school and took the lives of innocent human beings?\u201d\u00a0 We don\u2019t need to know the who, what, where, how, and how many. \u00a0We just don\u2019t.\u00a0 It does not matter. \u00a0What matters is it happened. \u00a0Now we have to decide who we are around it and what we want to do about it, if anything.<\/p>\n
I had made a decision a year or so ago to turn off the news.\u00a0 We stopped watching the morning news, nightly news, breaking news, live-team-coverage news, hurricane-watch news, the all of it.\u00a0 The level of peace and serenity I felt increased exponentially. \u00a0I had had a similar awakening a few\u00a0 years prior to that. \u00a0I used to be a faithful listener of talk radio.\u00a0 I had the whole day lineup from the morning guy, to the midday guy, to the afternoon-drive guy.\u00a0 I let them have space in my head for free. \u00a0And by the end of each day, I had the talking points memorized.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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. \u00a0I found that my head became filled with my heart messages and not someone else\u2019s words. \u00a0I was in control of my beliefs. \u00a0This is a powerful place, friends. \u00a0I invite you to join it with me.<\/p>\n
Tune out and tune in.\u00a0 You will not be missing anything.\u00a0 You will hear about the important events that happen in the world.\u00a0 You will still have the opportunity to express and declare who you are and what you believe about them.\u00a0 You will actually be much clearer about who that is without all the mis-information the media provides.\u00a0 You can find news outlets that you can regulate.\u00a0 You can stay informed and create your own thoughts and feelings around the information you choose to give priority to.<\/p>\n
We do not need the cable news shows telling us what to think and feel.\u00a0 They use fear as a tool to keep people listening.\u00a0 When was the last time the news gave you anything you needed or protected you from harm? \u00a0Why not turn off the TV and turn on some music that will bring a smile to your lips or a tear to your eye? \u00a0Let your Soul hear something that welcomes it into your living room.<\/p>\n
So this is my soapbox around the Newtown tragedy. \u00a0What is yours?<\/p>\n
(Kevin McCormack is a Conversations with God Life Coach, a Spiritual helper on\u00a0<\/em>www.changingchange.net<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span>, Addictions recovery advisor.\u00a0 To connect with Kevin please email him at\u00a0<\/em>Kevin@theglobalconversation.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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.\u00a0 I am going to direct my comments specifically at those in the news media, for I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[195,747,722,748],"class_list":["post-3262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction-and-recovery","tag-kevin-mccormack","tag-news-media","tag-newtown-connecticut","tag-sensationalism"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3262"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3264,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262\/revisions\/3264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}