“Don’t hate the media; become the media.”
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I have not had television programming for the past 20 years. Observing my own children’s behavior after a few short years of television viewing opened my eyes. What I observed was how quickly they became entrained in ways I became increasingly uncomfortable with. One example was that each Christmas their Santa lists grew longer. I was astonished when we stopped TV. Suddenly, they didn’t have a list! Entrainment. We are being fed, day by day by those who desire ratings and to sell goods. Negative new abounds.
No, I did not want my children to be passive automatons. I wanted them to think for themselves and to develop their creativity and connection to the natural world.
Through the almost hypnotic effect television viewing can produce, we may begin to lose our motivation to exercise discrimination and to question what is being presented to us. Our youth are at particular risk. Much of our movie and video games have devolved into increasingly more salacious and violent content. We should therefore not be surprised at the escalation of violent crime we are witnessing. We have become numb to the effect this has upon our populace.
Our collective energy spirals downward as many entrain more and more to this false portrayal of reality. The vulnerable increasingly incorporate the values, attitudes and actions displayed on the screen across our nations.
It is up to us to shift our focus at this time.
We need new models for entertainment! We need a redefinition of what entertainment is! Switching to life affirming, evolutionary, mind expanding media will be yet one more decision we make to support the changes we wish to make on the planet. Media is a powerful force and if used intelligently and with care can facilitate the changes we desire in that regard.
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News is Bad For You and Giving it Up Will Make You Happier
News is bad for your health. It leads to fear and aggression, and hinders your creativity and ability to think deeply. The solution? Stop consuming it altogether.
The following links may help you get started in a healthier direction.
Enjoy!
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Conscious TV
Consciousness, Nonduality, Life stories
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Daily Good
News That inspires: Often times, watching the nightly news and reading mainstream newspapers it’s hard to remember the presence of good in the world. And yet it is constantly around us. The world is full of everyday heroes and true stories of transformation. They have helped sustain life down the ages in a multitude of ways, small, simple and profound. DailyGood aims to shine a light on these stories and in doing so to change the nature of our conversations.
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Global Issues
“Most global issues are misrepresented in the mainstream for various reasons. Some issues may not be receiving enough or any mainstream media attention and therefor there is a lack of enough operand public debate, while other concerns seem to be getting a biased attention only. Instead of quick sound bites and limited context, a deeper understudying of the issues is important because it helps us understand how we got to where we are today. Only then can we begin to contemplate and effectively plan where we are headed and what that implies for the societies and peoples of today and tomorrow.”
The Good News Network®
is a clearinghouse for the gathering and dissemination of positive compelling news stories from all sources around the globe. Daily stories will confirm what we already believe: good news itself is not in short supply; the advertising of it is. It is the “daily dose of news to Enthuse”
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Growing Bolder
It’s not about age, it’s about attitude
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OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
“Mindful, not mindless, television, helping people to live their best lives, creating programming that’s just really good for people and it’s about unleashing the power of human potential.”
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OneWorld.net
The OneWorld network spans five continents and produces content in 12 different languages. It is organized by 8 main topics with 80 sub topics and by country/region. Many of these are produced from the South to widen the participation of the world’s poorest and most marginalised peoples in the global debate.
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Positive News
“Positive News is a not-for-profit positive media source. We report news from around the world and right next door in the areas of sustainability, social equality, education, happiness and much more.”
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TED
Free video clips are available capturing an amazing range of speakers from many disciplines: technology, entertainment, design, business, science, and global issues.
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Upworthy
Things That Matter…..Pass Them On
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WaterBear
Enjoy feature-length documentaries, engaging short films and inspirational media for free. Lets drive impact around the world together. Watch. Connect. Take Action. Wildlife Conservation. Documentaries and Shorts. Nature & Wildlife. 80+ Global NGO Partners.
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YES! Magazine-Powerful Ideas, Practical Actions: Today’s world is not the one we want—climate change, financial collapse, poverty, and war leave many feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.YES! Magazine empowers people with the vision and tools to create a healthy planet and vibrant communities. We do this by reframing issues and outlining a path forward, giving a voice to the people who are making change and offering resources to use and pass along.
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Positive Uses of Media
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A Movie Trailer
The next time you watch a movie preview, remember that this is what that money could have done
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Recommended Movies and Documentaries
Inequality For All
Through his singular perspective, Robert Reich explains how the massive consolidation of wealth by a precious few threatens the viability of the American workforce and the foundation of democracy itself. In this INCONVENIENT TRUTH for the economy.
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Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
This film follows Lester Brown as he speaks in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, New Delhi, Rome, Istanbul, Ankara, and Washington, DC, and visits with world leaders to discuss Plan B—a road map that will help eradicate poverty, stabilize population, and protect and restore our planet’s fisheries, forests, aquifers, soils, grasslands, and biological diversity. Discussion of Plan B begins at 51:15 min.
From the late George Carlin
“and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all the news and information you get to hear. They gotcha by the BALLS. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying — lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want — they want MORE for themselves and less for everybody else. But I’ll tell you what they don’t want. They DON’T want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that, that doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they’re getting F…..D by system that threw them overboard 30 f…..n’ years ago”