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Category: Readers' Opinions

And that's the way it is

Oct 08

8:06 AM

I used to watch the TV news with my remote in hand so that I could quickly push the mute button and sit back and think of other things besides shopping during commercial breaks.

Now, alas, just the opposite is true. Since the advent of economic woes and the misinformation promoted by the presidential candidates, I push the mute button on the news.

It is amazing! I have found a new world! The ads give hope in troubled times. They advise me to consult my doctor about new prescriptions on the market, tell me how exciting a new car can be, how to lose weight, how to build a muscular body and whiten my teeth.

So now in these battered times, I ask CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC to please add more commercials to their news reports. In fact, a station devoted entirely to commercials might even lessen the need for psychiatric help.

Edward Karp

Virginia Beach

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I Agree With Tabor

Submitted by js27262 on Mon, 10/13/2008 at 10:55 pm.

I turn down all the commercials as well. They are so much louder than the programming I can't stand it. If I thought it would do any good I'd happy to protest to Cox. Doubt anyone would listen there either.

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What I'd Love to See

Submitted by CrazyTedVB on Mon, 10/13/2008 at 10:47 pm.

What I'd love to see is the local news stations get back to reporting on local news. They spend over three-quarters of their newscasts covering national news and then neglect the local folks. If I want to see the same old national news story covered for an entire week with no new updates, I'll turn on one of the national headline news services. When I turn on my local news station, heaven forbid, I actually want to see local news stories.

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Informed decisions

Submitted by charlesm on Mon, 10/13/2008 at 7:58 pm.

Turning off bad news doesn't change the bad news. It's better to be informed so you can make necessary adjustments than to make bad decisions because you don't know all the facts. The more you know, the easier it is to interpret the news to separate fact from fiction and make good decisions. Of course, if you are screening out facts that don't match what you want to believe, that's another story.

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I would do the same thing, but....

Submitted by Wm D Tabor DDS on Mon, 10/13/2008 at 10:10 am.

On Cox Cable the commercials are so much louder than the programming that I have made a habit of muting all commercials so I don't have to run the volume up and down continuously. I rarely hear a commercial any more.

Maybe if enough people start doing that, and making it public, Cox's advertisers will object to no one hearing their ads and Cox will abandon the practice of running commercials at twice the volume of the programming.

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Not Alone-

Submitted by Ol grumpy on Mon, 10/13/2008 at 9:13 am.

After reading this letter I am happy to find out that I am not alone. For
the last two years the major news networks have become nothing but a outlet for 24 hour non-stop political babble and no real news. My wife laughs when I start judging the commercials for their creativity, comedy
and attention grabbing. I also used to mute the commercials but now find them less annoying than the news.

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