Friday, September 20, 2013

Who Watches The News?

Two transient orcas off the coast of San Juan Island


Question Posed to 2,295 Facebook people and 1,801 Twitter followers:

May I ask a personal question please? Why do you watch the news? I'd like to know.


Here are the results:

On Facebook:

  • total views of the question 1,243 , or 54% of the possible views.
  • response rate was 57 comments, or 4.4%
  • two people commented twice, bringing the response rate down to 55.
  • Of the 55, 7 watch televised news or read newspapers (taking 'in' syndicated news to 'keep informed')
  • Of the 55, 6 watch 'to know who to pray for'. (this also supports the concept that syndicated news is 'legit')
  • Together, the 7 and 6 are called 'engaged viewers', and represent 24% of the responses
  • 35 responded 'no way, not at all'
  • 7 stated, 'to watch the weather' or 'very limited and skeptical' reasons for 'once a week' view
  • Together, the 35 and 7 are called 'not engaged' and represent 76% of the responses

On Twitter:
  • zero responses, only one clarification with no further response.

Impressions:
  • Doctors With Reiki's 'reach' of 4,096 people represents a more 'spiritual' segment of the population.
  • On Facebook, a little more than half saw this post, but of those, only a very small percentage, less than five percent, chose to respond.
  • Of the responders, the number who were not engaged with syndicated news in any format, and distrustful of it, were triple the number of responders who are engaged with commercial news 'sources'.
  • People who watch and read news cite wanting to be 'informed' and 'able to speak intelligently' and 'to help others' as their motivation.
  • People who choose not to partake in news-related activity cite 'traumatic emotions by graphic horror presented' , 'freedom' and 'a sense of mistrust over the legitimacy of the actual news presented' as their reason.
Fact: 
Opinion: 
  • One need merely endure three minutes of commercials to grasp what the media industry really thinks of its viewers. -- Deborah A. Cook

My Practice:
  • As a survivor of PTSD I stopped letting myself watch the news during the horrific footage of the 9/11 Attack. I protected myself from 'setting off' my symptoms. (I watched an edited one-hour synopsis one week later with my friends.)
  • As a student of long standing, I was not afforded the luxury of time to watch T.V. news on a regular basis. (I used to turn it on the in morning to start my day, but not watch it.)
  • As my psychic development accelerated, I became 'turned off' by the energy of television programming.
  • However, when I am in France, I make it a practice to watch the news to hone my language skills.
  • We were not allowed to watch the news as children. (the graphic and gory footage my parents said no)
  • I am currently extremely cautious to give any of my attention directly to programmed news due to concern I may 'reinforce' the events discussed on the news programming through the process of co-creation and manifestation. I also limit my exposure to possible neurolinguistic programming and subliminal messages in the news presentation itself. I 'get my news' indirectly through Facebook comments, the internet, and friends. I do vote, and I study the issues on the internet.
We ARE what we think. It goes way further than 'where your mind goes your 'a*@' will follow'. 

All of us have the ability to co-create. Whether we realize it or not. However, those who do not have our best interest at heart, take advantage of this through standardized news programming. Metaphysically, we 'make' the news by agreeing with what is presented to us on the T.V. news as 'real'.

In Syria, we saw an abrupt 'change' in the ability to alter the course of 'the inevitable' by not accepting 'war' as a collective consciousness.

Your consciousness belongs to you and you alone. You have options in the news-viewing department. There is no one right or wrong answer.

And the goal of the question? To get all of the 96% of viewers who did not respond to the question, to start THINKING...


Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc