So I had dinner with a really good friend of mine – he’s very intelligent, a stand-up guy, with the highest integrity of anyone I’ve ever met. It is so unbelievably rare that I talk about politics (that’s NOT what this blog is about), but somehow that evening we started to have a conversation about the political climate in this country.
Long story short, we both agreed that politicians (on both sides) and the media in general were a source of negativity, and that Covid-19 should have been something that brought the country together, but instead did just the opposite.
He then began to get really passionate about his frustrations about the media and how major news sources have manipulated the emotions of millions of people — so much so, he started talking through his teeth. Yes, he was getting angry, but I believe it was for the right reasons. He wants to see the citizens of this country united, without interference from media, who at the time seems like they only want to burn it down.
While I love his passion, I wanted to offer a different approach: If you want to diffuse the media (or anything/anyone), the best reaction is to NOT HAVE A REACTION. In other words, the proper response is NO response.
The news media was once a source for good, relatively truthful and accurate ‘news.’ Newspapers and television were the only outlets for such information. Technology changed that tremendously. Many call it the democratization of information. Now information is available in real time at the tips of our fingers. Which means if these ‘news’ outlets want eyeballs, they have to be more extreme and aim to elicit a more emotional response. This means more inflated headlines and less facts. Media designed to get attention and reaction, rather than to educate.
If we want to rise above this, the proper response is NO RESPONSE. Even when an article is obscenely wrong or completely elicit, when the temptation is greatest, simply ignoring it, moving on, and not reacting takes all the power away. Remain focused on what’s important: your health, family, and business!
