Marty Marsh writes...

Have you read your local newspaper lately? How about watched your local television newscast?

On a recent trip to Rochester, New York I picked up the daily newspaper there and here is a sampling of the headlines that appeared in the local section.

"Man survives shot in head"
"Call leads to arrest in 1996 slaying"
"Crash victims identified"
"Biker faces DWI charge"
"Accident hurts motorcyclists"
"Fire victim still in hospital"
"Taxi alliance says strike is on"
"Accidents in Ontario County injure 6 people"
"Man shot in leg at parade"
"Man arrested in fatal hit and run"
Weekend violence plagues upstate"

The sad thing is that these could have been the headlines in any daily newspaper anywhere in the USA.

Oh, there were a few stories that were not about murder and mayhem sprinkled in there, but the violence, the killings, the accidents, and the various shootings filled the pages. Listen to any nightly newscast on the television anywhere in the USA and you'll get the same kinds of stories.

Why? Well most folks will tell you that violence is what sells. Maybe it does.

But in my experience, they run those kinds of stories because they're cheap to collect and print. Anyone on the staff can go to the public records -- and today they can do that from a computer right in their office (in my newspapering days we had to go to the courthouse) -- and get all of those stories without having to pay someone extra to collect and write them. It takes no brains to report because there is no thought required with these kinds of stories. No investigations needed. No real journalism to worry about.

The trouble really comes when we fill our brains with this stuff. It creates fear where none is probably warranted. It creates feelings of anxiety and doubt about our safety. If we believe the papers, it would appear that we are all in danger of being shot or hurt in some way.

The logical solution, of course, is to not watch or read this stuff at all.

Personally, I choose to not start my day by watching any newscast. Neither do I wake up (anymore) to NPR because -- while I think they have excellent programming -- I found that by the time I got out of bed I was either angry at my government or weeping because of all the injustice in the world. I had to stop.

I don't watch news at the end of the evening either because I just don't want murder and mayhem and the inanity of the antics of those we've elevated to celebrity status to be on my mind just before I go to sleep to infect my dreams. It's bad enough that we're surrounded with this stuff while we're awake.

So, my question to you today is: How do we live in the world and not be a part of the world? We want to be informed citizens, yes, but how does this stuff the media tries to pass off as "news" really affect us and our joy for living?

I'd love to hear your comments about how you are coping with this onslaught of negativity.