Be Aware of the Negative Influence of Newspaper and Media News

Newspapers are in business to sell news and media news is driven by ratings. Bad news sells five times faster better than good news which is why they don't publish "good news" newspapers.

My first sales job was with a newspaper advertising department and it was while I was there that I learned the only kind of news that sells is bad news. If a newspaper was set-up to publish only good news, it would rapidly go broke. It seems the public at large, has a morbid fascination with other people's problems and tragedies. I was 30 years of age when I learned this and since then over the past 50 years I have never bought a newspaper for that very reason. Similarly if you stop to analyze the content of the incessant stream of news that is bombarding your mind all day and every day from the television newscasts, you will find at least 90% of it is bad news. Imagine the impact of all this bad news on the public psyche over time. Is it any wonder that there is a worldwide increase in depression, anxiety and stress. The reality is you can get through life successfully without subscribing to the practice of avidly following local and world events just to stay up-to-date.

If there is something of importance that will affect your life, it will be

"in the air" and someone in your environment will be only too glad to tell you about it, without you having to go looking it.

This approach has two benefits,

!) It frees up the time for you to pursue more positive actions in your life.

2) It makes other people feel rewarded when they are able to tell you the bad news.

Let me remind you of just some of the things you could be doing instead of spending more time than necessary watching and reading the news.

You could read a good book.

You could do some exercise.

You could go help a needy friend or some other community activity.

You could enrich your mind with further education.

Any of these alternative activities will keep your body and mind in better condition than if you simply spend the time watching the news more than you need.