SOLUTIONS

  • Turn it off.
  • READ – don’t watch the news.
  • Watch with others.
  • Talk about the presentation, not the events.
  • Triangulate information intake.
  • Ask, “Is this any of my business?”

 

MEDIA FAST

Feeling news stressed? Avoid news (TV/paper/Internet) for days/weeks.

  • It may help renew spirits.
  • It will also help you to understand your reaction to, and the effects of watching the news.

Local/national network news has increased emphasis on crime, yet US crime rates continue to decline.

Violence
Death
Negative images		 → Anxiety
Sadness
Depression

Depression and sadness can lead to negative life view. Perceptions of violent, unsafe, and hostile world can affect the body negatively, as well.

RESULTS OF A MEDIA FAST

  • Develop more conscious media relationship
  • Promote greater mental calm
  • Spend less time being anxious and over-stimulated
  • Spend more time in harmonious mental state

RESOURCES

The Media Education Foundation
Produces and distributes video documentaries to encourage critical thinking and debate about the relationship between media ownership, commercial media content, and the democratic demand for free flows of information, diverse representations of ideas and people, and informed citizen participation.www.mediaed.org

Center for Media and Democracy
The nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy strengthens participatory democracy by investigating and exposing public relations spin and propaganda, and by promoting media literacy and citizen journalism, media “of, by and for the people.” Our programs include PR Watch, a quarterly investigative journal; six books by CMD staff; Spin of the Day; the Weekly Spin listserv; and, Congresspedia and SourceWatch, part of our wiki-based investigative journalism collaborative to which anyone, including you, can contribute. www.prwatch.org

Whitedot.org – The International Campaign Against Television

BEST PRACTICES

Check Your Language for negative/fear-related words and ideas.
Focus on positive communication

Create Awareness at Work
Foster company-wide open discussions about news media events and their factuality.
Examine the workplace – do you (even unknowingly) support MEDIA TERRORISM in your place of business (televisions in lounges/waiting rooms, newspapers, magazines, etc.)?

Discuss MEDIA TERRORISM and its Effects on:

  • Diversity
  • Open-mindedness
  • Productivity

Engage in Introspection and Conduct Training
Examine beliefs and attitudes. Ask: What do I/we believe and why?