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TV personalities such as Bill O'Reilly can help feed TV addiction
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Hi,
my name is Ali Asadullah and I am addicted to television. For the
past several years I have consumed inordinate amounts of
programming. But post September 11, I became really strung out,
watching news from morning into the evening and then watching all
sorts of other shows. Most nights I even fell asleep with the TV on.
It was my companion, my one constant, my window to the world.
Without television I felt lost, out of touch. How wrong I was.
I
have been sober now for three weeks and counting; and thanks to
Jerry Mander’s 1978 classic treatise on the ills of television, I
hope to stay off the TV from now on.
I
am of course exaggerating and using language similar to that used by
actual addicts who attend drug rehabilitation meetings. But far from
making light of true addiction, I am trying to shed light on the
very real and harmful attraction to television, as so thoroughly
detailed in Jerry Mander’s Four Arguments for the Elimination
of Television.
Truthfully
though, sometime around 1998 I realized that I was losing some of my
intellectual acuity. I was far enough from my college years that the
routine rigors of college intellectual life were no longer making
their lingering effects felt. Working as a journalist, though, I
still had plenty of mental stimulation via my writing. As time wore
on, however, I started reading less and watching more television as
a way to stay informed. That pattern worsened until my reading had
dwindled and my time in front of the tube had skyrocketed.
Now
mind you, I have never watched much garbage on television. My
consumption has always skewed heavily towards news and educational
programming from sources such as PBS (I am a special fan of Frontline).
But even with the consumption of such programming, I was finding it
harder and harder to remain mentally fit.
I
found myself in the middle of conversations searching for words that
once were on the tip of my tongue. I found remembering day-to-day
activities more difficult. In general, I felt as if a haze had
descended over my mind. It was then that I began to wonder about the
amount of television I was watching. I started cataloging my TV
schedule.
After
waking for morning prayer – assuming I did not fall back asleep
– I would join the lively debate on Fox & Friends.
Being a bastion of conservative spin, Fox is always a good way to
start the day when you want to hear the very worst and sensational
things being said about Muslims. It makes the rest of the day’s
new coverage seem somehow more bearable.
After
Fox & Friends, it was on to MSNBC’s daytime coverage.
Although MSNBC runs in third place versus CNN and Fox News, it
nonetheless often has rather decent news coverage and reasonably
balanced opinion makers.
Around
midday I would begin channel surfing – a little CNN Talkback
Live, a little Fox News, a little more MSNBC.
At
3 p.m. the analysis shows kick in. So that means surfing amongst
Shepard Smith, the Abrams Report, Chris Matthews, Bill
O’Reilly, Hannity & Colmes, Lou Dobbs and Crossfire.
I used to watch Ashley Banfield, but MSNBC’s shameless plugging of
her turned me off at some point.
Once
primetime hit, I was off to PBS taking in Frontline, Nova,
Nature, POV, NOW with Bill Moyers and any other programs of
merit I could find. I would also take in a few of my favorite
commercial TV dramas, which included, most notably, Law and Order.
As
for my late nights, I often consumed more news, some talk shows and
possible something ridiculous on Comedy Central. More of then not, I
fell asleep with the television still going. And so went my days –
work with TV in the background, sleep with TV in the background,
meals with TV in the background.
My
breaking point came sometime around January. I was having a
conversation with a friend of mine concerning current affairs and I
found myself unable to pinpoint the sources of the information I was
conveying. I found myself saying repeatedly: “I read somewhere
…” or “I heard on the news somewhere …” But I couldn’t
put my finger on the source. It was as if the news had become one
big blur, with each individual newscaster blending into the other
making for this nebulous, Big Brother voice that I would most often
refer to as “They”.
“They
say the NASDAQ should dip further today.”
“They
said on the news that Saddam was building a new weapon.”
“Have
you heard what they’re saying about the War on Terror?”
Just
who the heck are THEY? I didn’t know, because I really wasn’t
paying attention. The news was always on, but somehow even when I
was watching actively, it was going in one ear and out the other,
leaving me with a vague understanding that allowed me to make great
casual conversation, but hindered me from truly intellectualizing
over current affairs.
I
thought back to the days when I would actually spend large portions
of the day reading the news straight from the newswires. Back then,
I was a veritable treasure trove of accurate facts, figures and
details concerning current events. I longed for those days.
And
so I resolved to kick my habit. But TV doesn’t just let you go
that easily – it does it’s best to keep you and it surely kept
me. I would go a day without television. However when I would return
to it, ostensibly to “just briefly check the news”, I would find
myself locked in its grasp for hours. I was like the alcoholic that
so easily falls off the wagon just by taking one drink.
This
continued for quite some time, with me stopping and starting. What
finally helped me kick the habit however, was a break in my routine.
After moving a short while ago, I found that I no longer had access
to TV whenever and however I wanted. To fill the empty spaces, I
began reading again. Thus far I am at a book a week. I hope to up
that to 2 books a week, a newspaper a day and several magazines a
month; thus eliminating my need for the tube altogether.
It
will be a hard road. I hear my old friends at MSNBC calling me now I
desperately want to go play with them again. But I have to stay
strong and keep the course. After all, my mind may depend on it. 
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