In the 70s, an Australian band called Skyhooks had a hit song called ‘Horror Movie’:
‘Right there on my TV – It’s the six thirty news!’
Nowadays, it’s not just at 6.30pm. We can watch bad news from any country at anytime of the day or night. We don’t even have to be at home to get the latest news bulletins anymore.
Tragic events are beamed into our living rooms or directly to our mobile phones from all over the world only minutes after they happen – or even in real time.
We can look on the bright side and be thankful that whatever awful things happened, at least they didn’t happen to us or (hopefully) anyone we know.
But they did happen to someone and given theories like the six degrees of separation – they probably happened to someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who we do know.
Watching the news definitely affects one’s mood. It is tempting to switch off – but important to know what is going on.
These things still happen even if we don’t watch the news and we cannot simply ignore unlawful or unfair actions.
We may even be able to help set them right – for example, by lobbying for changes to government policies or legislation. (See my post re kidney donor payments)
Or writing a letter via Amnesty International – a fantastic example of collective action that really can make a difference.
We also need to be well enough informed to be able to consider the impact of our own actions in our day to day lives and interactions with others – including taking responsibility for finding out about supply chains before we buy something. (See my post re Bangladesh)
In a somewhat perverse way, I find it reassuring that the Australian media report home fires, bad traffic accidents, armed robberies or drive-by shootings. At least it means that these events are still ‘remarkable’ or ‘newsworthy’.
It would surely be worse if incidents such as these were considered to be so normal or taken for granted that they were no longer reported – or we just reported the number of incidents as there were so many, rather than the gory details of the few.
But imagine a different world – where every so often there was no bad news to report. Just as John Lennon sang – a world living in peace, if only for a short time.
Or like Anne Murray describes in her 1983 song ‘A Little Good News’ (just substitute Syria or Sudan for Lebanon if you watch the music video):
‘Just once how I’d like to see the headline say
“Not much to print today, can’t find nothin’ bad to say”, because
Nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town
Nobody OD’ed, nobody burned a single buildin’ down
Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain
We sure could use a little good news today
I’ll come home this evenin’, I’ll bet that the news will be the same
Somebody takes a hostage, somebody steals a plane
How I wanna hear the anchor man talk about a county fair
And how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care…’
Image: © Jhanganu | Dreamstime.com
Categories: Social
Sustainability soapbox 
Thanks Pip. Some good information to think about. I have just finished reading two (2) of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s books ‘Infidel’ and ‘Nomad’. They are biographies of her life growing up in Somalia under an Islamic system, escaping with her family to Saudi Arabia, then to Ethiopia and finally to Nairobi in Kenya. There her father married her off to a Somali cousin who come over from Canada to marry her and flew back immediately, with Ayaan booked on a flight to follow to Canada. Ayaan did not want to marry this man she despised, so when her flight stopped in Germany she moved through the stopover lounge, caught a taxi and quickly a train to Holland. Here she changed her name and place of birth so that the male members of her family would not be able to find her and kill her in an ‘honor’ killing because she had disgraced the family name and the clan, by refusing to stay married to someone she did not like.
She quickly became an asylum seeker, learnt Dutch, became an interpreter for women seeking asylum, graduated from Lieden University in Holland with a 5 year degree in Political Science, became a Dutch Politician and spoke out against the barbaric practices of the suppression of women.
She was then given a 24 hour security guard protection against death threats. Especially after her Dutch film producer friend was murdered in broad daylight for producing a documentary about women refugees.
Ayaan was then offered a position in Washington with a ‘Think Tank’ where she now works giving talks in the USA and Europe, and working with ‘www.theahafoundation.com’ to help women overcome their problems.
Ayaan is a very brave, clever, thoughtful woman who needs all the help she can get with her work in helping asylum seeking women..
Cheers, John
It’s a delicate balance: staying aware and concerned, while not being bombarded and overwhelmed by the constant horror happening around the world. I wish there was a channel of only Good News!
I wonder how many people would watch it if there were such a channel?
Good question. I know I would watch it. Imagine the uplifting feeling we are left with after watching a channel that shares positive, uplifting news; verses the usual dramatized media that bombards our news channels and radios.