The Curse of Cable

I have to admit that I've begun to watch almost no television. I get just about everything I know from the five or six newspapers I read daily. Of them, I conclude that the BBC is the most reliable since it is supported by tax dollars not Rupert Murdock or any of the other Hearst-like demons in our society with a personal angle that doesn't always correspond so closely to the truth. But even that doesn't bother me as much as the constant, mind-numbing repetition of stories...weeks of repeating the same thing over and over from any ludicrous angle one can find "on-the-scene." And if my house had just been blown/washed away in a disaster, you'd better not run the footage over and over or come along asking me how I feel. Ghoulish.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to see ESPN covering Brett Favre stories for three straight days with live reports from Wendi Nix on the hour every hour. And that's just one example.
How about the "birther" controversy. That has raged every day of the last year courtesy of Donald Trump. And now that it's been produced, we'll hear another six months about how it might not be accurate or have to listen to more talking heads asking, "Does this put an end to the birther controversy?"
Seriously.
And every time Ozzie Guillen does something patently stupid, the viewing public has to hear THAT dissected over and over, ad infinitum and definitely ad nauseam.
Of course, when something dramatic causes a twist in the plot such as the latest government flap in Madison, telling me one time is enough. I don't need to be bombarded with repeats of the same story.
How many Royal Wedding features have you been subjected to? It's almost as if I expect the new Duke and Duchess to spin off into a reality show called "This Old Castle" or something akin to that.
or Donald Trump...he has made noise about running for president for the last three elections and has yet to do it. Really...hasn't his fifteen minutes run out? I could go on and on, but then I would be a pale image of just what I hate.
So you do it.
Think of how much you hate the constant repetition of inanity that television gives you.
Then go read a newspaper...
but keep an open eye peeled for the real story and not the publisher's spin.