“Most of what we anticipate today are the results of elections, trials, Supreme Court decisions. But then nothing really changes we go back to our regular lives. We all feel disconnected and lost.” — Bob Lefsetz, “The Chris Rock Netflix Special,” The Lefsetz Letter (02023-03-04)
“The internet works against historical consciousness because the new and newer news comes so quickly to hand that it buries all thought of what happened yesterday or the day before in an avalanche of data.” — Lewis H. Lapham, The Art of Editing No. 4, the Paris Review (Summer 2019)
“It is the initial letters of the four points of the compass that make the word ‘news,’ and he must understand that news is that which collies from the North, East, West and South, and if it comes from only one point of the compass, then it is a class publication, and not news.” — Benjamin Disraeli, Second reading Newspaper Stamp Duties Bill (1855-03-26)
“It appears to me that the electric telegraph chiefly serves to convey the news of misfortune rapidly, inaccurately, abruptly, and partially. We have now the fifth act of the tragedy before we know anything of the preceding ones. Then, again, the system of telegraphing tends more and more to divide official men into two classes — idiots and madmen.” — Arthur Helps, Brevia
I use nicknames in my notebook; It doesn’t live in drawer.
Descriptive, not pejorative; She is always following the news. An addict soothed by humanity’s woes.
She’s told of turning on the news when she wakes up. I think there aren’t enough screens at home for a full evening fix. Probably only the 8 o’clock news.
Behind her desk, she has the radio talking away in her left ear. Yahoo’s headlines go with the post-prandial coffee. At lunch, she steers towards the tables with a view of the wall with the world going by.
Early July, pity and a desire to laugh.
We’re three at the table and she’s searching for something to riff on. We don’t bite at the day’s headlines. She’s trying hard; No conversations start from the week’s highlights. We eat in silence.
A few days ago, another incident. Our colleague hasn’t joined us yet.
“Look! China’s stock markets are melting.” Watching TV while eating is acceptable in some households. A bored yes.
“Look! See the amazing robot.”
I let her drone on. I’m getting angry. I’m looking for a polite way to remind her: “I don’t give a shit about the news!”
My colleague shows up. Saved.
“People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.” — A. J. Liebling, The New Yorker, April 7, 1956
“Just because the news media tell you to worry about an issue doesn’t mean that the issue is worth worrying about.” — Michael Wade, Random Thoughts
“Most of the news focuses on the problems of people without real problems. You don’t know the name of a single homeless person in your city, but you probably know about Lindsay Lohan’s arrest record.” — Robert Chazz Chute, Self-help for Stoners: Stuff to Read When You’re High
Related:
From My Notebook – Page 1
“A News-Paper, which consists of just the same Number of Words, whether there be any News in it or not.” — Henry Fielding
“A News-Paper, which consists of just the same Number of Words, whether there be any News in it or not.” — Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
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