Turn off the TV – increase the quality of your life!

My wife makes fun of the fact that I don’t know the local headlines or what is going on in the news. To which I reply – there isn’t any news. I don’t read the paper and only watch CNBC when I feel like punishing myself. I am an internet media junkie. If you are not, you will be, it’s only a matter of time.

To me, if the news is important enough, it invades the public consciousness to the point that you can’t help but hear what’s community important – the flodds in New Orleands as an example. The rest is there to sell anxiety drugs. I know from experience.

I believe my quality of life at work and home has jumped dramatically since I turned down or off the TV.

I log on and get the news in my time, in my environment. One more reason to believe the internet and the flow of information is in the early innings. Is there really any other investment you should make other than hard assets and information technology (delivery and speed) – NO

An execellent article which I include below from Bill Cara on the subject:

The reason ‘Big Media’ is failing, Thurs., Dec. 15, 2005, 9:56 AMBig Media such as newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, are failing with their audience because they are delivering a product users do not want. That happens when the owners and managers involved decide to broadcast with a “take it or leave it” agenda. Subscribers simply leave it, and try to find an alternative media that meets their needs.

I think the needs of people are becoming more clearly defined: (i) satellite radio (ii) multi-channel digital TV with a la carte pricing, and (iii) specialized blogs.

As I have said here before, Big Media has adopted a strategy to sell fashion. This strategy is no longer acceptable to people who are more interested in protecting and building their wealth. Fashion, as you know, is here today and gone tomorrow.

So people today want (i) to know “how to” survive and prosper in a changing world, and (ii) be entertained, when they get a chance to take a break from the real world.

Yes, fashion can be entertaining, but for some reason Big Media thinks they can make reality news entertaining, and they cannot. At least they should not try. People today are saying they want media to filter the news, not spin it around some fleeting notion.

People today have learned to compartmentalize reality from entertainment. And when they see it together they grow weary or discontented. They suspect a hidden agenda, and become skeptical.

So media today must be honest, or it is doomed to fail.

Here are a couple examples of bad media today.

The Dow Jones & Company – normally a terrific operator of the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s – made a decision recently to buy the electronic publisher MarketWatch. Years ago, I used to think highly of that publication. Today, I like the timeliness of its reporting, but the information provided is so bad I don’t know whether to call it misinformation or disinformation. Clearly the latter term infers deliberate deception. As I say, I haven’t yet decided which is which, but I do not like what I see.

Well put Bill