Exercising Gray Matter
In Geezerville, we all watch the evening news on television, and those of us who are fortunate to live in a community that still has a morning newspaper, we, more or less, read it cover to cover. And that does not mean that we don’t read the news on the Internet, either.
The broadcasting and newspaper industries, of course, know all of this. In fact, broadcasters promise prospective advertisers that the median age of the evening news watcher is 61.6 years. “Median” is the key word here—half of us are over 61.6 years old and the other half is under. It also means news-addicts as a group probably have more disposable income for cars, trucks and foot long sandwiches.
And, they vote.
As a once-upon-a-time radio/TV guy sitting in front of the tube at evening news time, watching a half hour of local news and a half hour of network national news, I reached for my yellow pad and scribbled information about the 42 commercials I saw and heard during the 60 minutes of “information.”
Five of the 22 commercials broadcast on local news were political—about climate change legislation or health reform, the remainder devoted to furniture, cars, trucks, banks, carpets and, you guessed it, the $5 foot long thing.
Surprisingly, the network news avoided political advertising. It was more interested in your health—promoting everything from inhalers, mouth wash, pain killers, multi-vitamins, calcium additives and toothpaste. A friendly dog also talked about baked beans, and a national restaurant chain bragged about its shrimp.
So, what does this mean and how is it important? Well, it means that you’re getting about 45 minutes of news instead of 60. But that isn’t important. I consider information like this, and even the news itself, to have value since it exercises the gray matter. The uncurious brain corrodes and the older you get, the more you realize that you aren’t here forever. The news helps you think.
We must choose. We are something like old cars; we can run out or rust out!
Tell friends and family, “Put away the WD-40 and catch me if you can. I’m watching the news and laughing at the commercials!”
