Will B. Over the Media

I know you are probably thinking, what is he talking about because he is in the media. This may be true, but I almost don’t associate my job with what is considered the media most see on a day-to-day average.

I consider myself extremely lucky to work for a newspaper who has a mission to promote positiveand spiritual stories.

During the last 10 years, I have found myself unable to watch news on television or read big city newspapers on a regular basis. I would say I watch the news maybe once a week during the school year and almost never in the summer. Watching the regurgitated and over sensationalized negative news just makes me feel ill.

I do record the news on a daily basis just in case there is a story on our Cubs or something about Olney, but almost daily I erase it without watching it.

I know this is going to sound so cliché, but when I was young, tv shows and the news was very different. We had shows like “Real People” and “That’s Incredible” to name a couple. These shows were reality-based and showed off the better half of people. News stations regularly showed feel-good puff pieces or local stories of people who do good in the community.

Today you have reality shows and news outlets that feed off the drama, fear and negativity of people. In this past year or two, the news media has pulled out all the stops and have worked the public into a frenzy of fear. I won’t go into too many details but some may believe the news may have influenced the shut down of the country over the coronavirus.

At the risk of sounding like my parents, I miss the good old days. It doesn’t help that a good majority of people repost and share social media posts without even checking the facts of what they are posting about.

I say it’s time to take our sanity back. Turn off and tune out negative stories and let the news media know we are not interested in their fear mongering stories. We want positive stories that show the best in our fellow man. Turn off drama and negative filled tv shows that show the worst of us and turn on tv shows that shows the best in us.

I challenge everyone to put an end to negativity and gossip that is hurting our neighbors and promote good will and a loving community spirit. Negativity is a social virus and deadly to a small community. It spreads easily and quickly. When confronted with negativity and gossip put your foot down and tell the person you will not put up with it. You will see that this is the antidote to the virus of negativity.

In a small community, being positive can spread just as fast as negativity and can make a huge impact in people’s daily lives. I was taught a valuable lesson years ago which is this, smile even if you don’t feel like smiling and pretty soon you will find that the smile becomes genuine. A smile to the right person on the right day can turn a person’s day around quicker than you know.

This is Will B. Quoting Bob Marley “Don’t worry be happy”!