NEWS - Revenue and Ratings? Just What Are They Feeding Us?

"..just what ARE they feeding us..?"

Since the news media is based on 'Revenue & Ratings' it isn't surprising to most of us that most of the topics they talk about are sensationalized & horrendous. But just what are they feeding us? Its no wonder that when we watch it, it can sometimes leave us feeling abit depressed, angry & even alittle overwhelmed about the state of our society, both morally & economically. The best advice for this is to remember, it has been suggested that the media's only cause for existing, isn't for the betterment of people. Even tho' it may have been at one time. All they want is to be number ONE on the ratings board & to achieve a high revenue. I guess there's alot of people that like hearing about the terrible things that happen in the world. Of course the news media will gladly appease these appetites. I often wonder at what point did this happen? I mean..as far back as bible times,(first published in Rome by Julius Caesar) people thought it was a great idea to tell others about the things that were happening in their town, with events, with their leaders etc. It was likely an effort to control or conform to standardized information. (Read more about: Why was the newspaper invented? At wiki.answers.com)

But where did the news take the turn into airing peoples dirty laundry? Telling everyone about some stars plastic surgery, how much money a person has, what property a rich person just purchased, what young woman just made the centerfold, what some housewife did to her neighbors flower bed..I mean the list of absurdities just goes on and on. No doubt its a good idea to let people know about a criminal that escaped from jail and is in their area or a rapist or murderer on the loose. Letting people know about the weather, earthquakes, floods and wildfires is definitely purposeful and useful. Highlighting a childs accomplishment with a school project. The condition of our planets health and utilizing affordable ways to preserve it. Or letting everyone know about a new medical breakthrough that does actually cure something without abunch of horrific side effects. Telling people about things that matter, such as, a bacterial viral outbreak in a local area, a new law that has been passed by congress, or where there is available work. Things that matter, that truly help the people and our society. For the betterment of all mankind. (Not to say that the news never talks about these things.) Theres just not enough of these things being talked about when compared to the other side of the coin. Why doesn't our news stations rely more on those topics and types of stories?

I'm sure there are alot of folks that don't even watch TV when they wake up. Alot of the times playing favorite music helps to maintain a better outlook towards the new day. Frankly there are some people that have come to the understanding that "..believing nothing that you hear and only half of what you see.." is probably the best way to think. Can't say I dissagree there. Perhaps its better living in the knowledge that 95% of what is on TV is actually not true. Here's an idea, why not just create a channel on TV thats just for absurd, gossip and useless news? Just have it run for 24 hours aday, 7days aweek. Those who want to watch it can and those who don't won't. That could work! That way our regular news stations could focus on news thats worth listening to instead of subjecting or exposing everyone to empty, useless news that is broadcasted because its on the news teleprompters. Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting the blame on the news anchorperson. They only work for the companies that broadcast the news and certainly at times they too probably think some of the news as being ridiculous or absurd.

What little authority they may have, the authority to say that a news item is ridiculous and not worth airing goes higher up. That blame goes to those overpaid executives and power hungry companies running the news stations, and they love those ratings which makes for alot of revenue. Whether the news is moral, true, sesationalized or horrendous. Is there really a choice? Then again when you think about it, if the public didn't really want to hear all the sensationalized horrendous and ridiculous news I guess it wouldn't be so popular. Hmmmm..which makes me wonder, even more so, about societies values and morals in general. I guess the next best thing we can do about it...is simply change the channel. Just saying. Enjoy the day.


Copyright(c)2012.News - Revenue and Ratings?Just What Are They Feeding Us? Written by Sherrie Vitello.All Rights Reserved.

There IS Hope - Never Give Up!

When we are in our addiction..we believe that we are alright. We fool ourselves into thinking that we are doing fine. We have our drink or drug of choice & the world seems surmountable. But whats really going on with us is, we are headed for a "head on collision" with life. We WILL hit bottom at some point. Hopefully it won't be at the medical examiners office. If we're lucky we will have a rude awakening...in jail. Or perhaps with a friend who will have the courage & love for us to tell us we need to STOP KILLING OURSELVES! If we're sick enough of being sick, we'll listen, get help & change our lifestyle. We will realize that we can exist without our addiction. We will learn to overcome the triggers & cravings that can cause us to relaspe. We will see that we were so wrong about how we saw our lives & we will do all we can to make it better & to make ammends for all the wrong we did to our loved ones & others. Eventually as life happens...we will have the opportunity to help someone else that is walking the same path we just walked. We will reach out to help them. And once we've helped them & we see that our efforts were not in vain..at that moment we'll realize just how fortunate we are to have come through the haze of our addiction. There is always hope! Never give up!  

Gratitude IS our Latitude!

If you don't know already, "negative begats negative and positive begats positive." This effects all areas of our lives everyday. The more I learn about the way we respond to things and how it effects the outcome, the more certain I am about the validity of that statement above.

What outlook are we carrying forth into the day ahead?  Are we feeling fearful about the circumstances confronting us?  Do we dread a planned meeting?  Are we worried about the welfare of a friend or lover?  Whatever our present outlook, it's power over the outcome of our day is profound.  Our attitude in regard to any situation attracting our attention influences the outcome. Sometimes to our favor, often to our disfavor if our attitude is negative.

Thankfulness toward life guarantees the rewards we desire, the rewards we seek too often from an ungrateful stance.  The feeling of gratitude is foreign to many of us.  We came to this program(or circumstance) feeling worthless, sometimes rejected, frequently depressed. 

It seemed life had heaped problems in our laps, and so it had.  The more we *lamented what life "gave us," the more reasons we were given to *lament.  We got just what we expected.

We still get just what we expect. The difference is that the program(or positive changes) has offered us the key to higher expectations. Gratitude for the good in our lives increases the good.

* Lament or Lamented: meaning an expression of sorrow or affliction. Express grief, sorrow or remorse.

Excerpts taken from the book: Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey

Written by:  Sherrie Vitello

Parents and The Addict-Child

Parents blame themselves alot of the time when their child has been found out to be using drugs or alcohol. We wonder 'what did we do wrong?'...'didn't we love our child enough?'...'was it the way I lived my life?' Sometimes this can cause a parent so much stress that they begin using just to keep the guilt away.  Of course, that's not the normal reaction, but it does happen. A parent can begin to feel affraid of their own child. But with diligence, honesty, and reaching out for help, a parent can find ways to help their child.

Often when a child is using they isolate themselves, they withdraw from family. From friends who don't use. They begin to lie to their parents. They can even steal from family members, friends, from work, even from strangers. An addict does these things because the greatest fear an addict has is not being able to feed their addiction. Don't get me wrong not all addicts steal, but there is a majority that do things that they would never do when clean and sober. It can become a nightmare for both addict and the parents.

As the addict-child begins sinking into their down fall of addiction, they may overdose themselves, they have seen friends overdose or maybe even die. They begin to justify why they use. The addict-child will convince themselves that they cannot live without their drug of choice. They convince themselves that their addiction makes their lives feel right. But that's just the addiction taking over. The addicts family feels powerless as well. Eventually the addict will lose everything, they could even get arrested, or end up in the hospital. Hitting bottom is the term for this.

What can a parent do?  It's not an easy ride, that's for sure. Once a parent is sure that their child is using, onething a parent can do is NOT become an enabler. Seek help for dealing with addictions that can be utilized and can help a parent cope and deal with this problem. Their are many resources in our communities that can assist in getting your child back on the right track. But be honest about this to yourself, the child, now an addict will probably go kicking and screaming. It may even take several attempts before the addict-child will see the light. But be diligent, don't give up. Their addiction is usually the addict-childs only way of crying out for help.
Note: These resolves can also help adult-addicts get the help they need.

Written by: Sherrie Vitello

Being Grateful.....

Another wonderful day everyone...I hope you all are feeling well. Remember...If you hate your job, imagine yourself without it, if you hate your life, imagine the sadness of never seeing the abundance of beauty there is in the world, if you hate yourself, imagine what you're missing by not allowing yourself to truly laugh or seeing the love in someone's eyes or the smile of a child or the softness of a puppy.

                                                      
You get the picture....so be happy, Dammit!!! LOL! 
Enjoy the weekend everyone...and remember a good time doesn't have to be in a bottle.

Why we are here.......

We've developed this blog to help visitors' find ways to cope with changes in their lives and find new strength as they look for ways to improve their own ways of thinking, attitudes, addictions and self image.  Sometimes in our lives we need to make changes for the better, and we don't always have the assistance outside of our selves to make those changes.  Contained within this blog is several self help items and words to encourage 
us which can be of great help to anyone who needs that extra boost to get going with change and stay on track.

Of course listening and speaking to others' with the same problems and some guidance can be of help as well.  It's always good to relate with others that share a common ground.  But sometimes we'll find ourselves having to deal with our issues on our own.  So what if you had a blog where you could go and find
some information about how you're feeling about things, what you can do about things that may be bothering you or you may want to find out how to deal or handle a situation that's getting in the way of you being at your best. 

That's why we're here.  We share several insights, advice, suggestions, great reads, all intended to help visitors' maybe find some answers.  We always invite comments too, your points of views are an important part of what we do too.  So please, after you've looked us over,  we encourage you to leave us any comments or questions. 

Now for the sake of not misleading anyone, please understand, we are not  psychologists' and we don't make claims to being one.  Everything within this blog is written purely from experiences we've been through, experiences that loved ones and friends have been through, and alot of research about human emotions.  It's wisdom learned from alot of situations we've seen others in and been in ourselves. 
The reason we feel the need to write about this is because we've learned alot of good things that we believe can help others that are searching for answers or information to help them find there way.  That's why we love to read from visitors' that like to share too....we can all get something out of each others insights and ideas.  So by all means don't hesitate to write what you're thinking about....lets get this conversation going!
[Written by Sherrie Vitello]