I was raised by a couple
of news addicts. Print journalism and broadcast journalism were the ninth and tenth
members of my household, and I sometimes resented the latter. To this day, I
know not to call my dad between 6:30 and 7 p.m., as he cannot bear the idea of
missing a moment of the ABC evening news, which is often followed up with more
news on the TV and/or the Internet.
On the average day, my detailed
knowledge of what’s going on in this world is spotty. I cover-to-cover read
every issue of Newsweek magazine from
my mid-twenties until that was no longer an option. I follow the New York Times on Twitter and semi-regularly
set aside time to read beyond its headlines, particularly the articles
pertaining to lifestyle and the arts. When someone referenced Bernie Madoff, several
days after the world had been told his story, my “Who’s he?” was not courteously
received. On September 11, 2001, I wasn’t aware we were in the early stages of
a national tragedy until the early afternoon, thanks to a phone call from my aunt.
So I haven’t exactly been
a wealth of information on what’s happening in Syria. As I walked uptown
more than a week ago, an older lady walked toward me, beaming. When I stopped and pulled
out my earbuds to hear what I was getting accosted about, she was midway
through congratulating me on my “victory in Syria.” I thanked her. “But who is
Syria?” she asked, before moseying off, in a daze. I should also thank her for being the
one who most recently prompted me into reading and listening to more in-depth coverage
about what’s new in lands far, far away from my personal and professional
bubbles.
My husband is obsessed with the news. Now that he is retired, the television is on all day with msnbc, cnn, pbs and miscellaneous news programs on other stations. At first this was really hard for me to take, but now I'm sort of adjusted to it. I listen sometimes, and sometimes I block it all out. I will say that the amount of repetition is incredible, but I think I have adjusted to even that. The New York Times used to be my husband's drug of choice, but he stopped buying it when the daily version went up to $2.50. (I can't even guess the cost of the Sunday version nowadays.) He misses it, but it was an economic choice, and he has replaced it (big time!) with the television.
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