Things I Don’t Like About Television, Episode 14: Cable News

I would like to begin with a little story about Entertainment Tonight.

1997 Set a Bad Precedent for Cable News Networks

For those of you who don’t know what Entertainment Tonight is, it’s a news magazine that first aired in 1980’s. I watched it at one point in my life. Although it was built on gossip surrounding the stars, it was once a pretty decent program for its purpose. There were short segments on various stars but the most important thing was that there was variety. That all changed the day Jimmy Stewart died. The actor best known for the films “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” died in 1997 and there was a marked change in the way the news was reported. Much of the focus had been on Stewart’s death, and this was especially true on “Entertainment Tonight.”

From that day on, most news magazines/programs would focus their time slots more on one story. (Local news networks had been like this for years prior.) This could be seen in the mid-late part of the 2000’s when broads like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton were given too much attention for their antics. (This could even be seen on 24-hour news networks — and sports networks as well, which I will touch on in the next post.)

My [Simple] Dream Job

In Response to the Daily Prompt Money for Nothing (February 15, 2016):

If you’re like most of us, you need to earn money by working for a living. Describe your ultimate job. If you’re in your dream job, tell us all about it — what is it that you love? What fulfills you? If you’re not in your dream job, describe for us what your ultimate job would be.

On the surface, I have a fairly simple dream, really. Of course, I would love to do what I love (writing and drawing).  I could achieve this by writing books and creating the illustrations for them. Whenever I talk to published authors or painters, I can sense the excitement they have for they created.

When I really think about it, there are things about my current job that I like and would like to incorporate in the future. On one hand, being a published author would make me my own boss. On the other hand, I need to work with others on a regular basis. I would love the chance to work on a full team while creating artistic works…or designing for an advertising campaign.

I would even like to incorporate a chance at leadership. Moving upward to become an art director would also be a teaching role.

With that taken care of, I would also like to work in a fun, positive environment. For all the complaints many — including myself — have about Google, it really seems like a fun place to work. It’s like a playground, with great health plans and stock options. Its customer service needs work, to make an understatement. Some also state the pressure to work and stay on campus, but they say the experience is an overwhelmingly positive one.

Additionally, I would like to know that I’m making a positive impact on clients, customers, and the world. So that would be different than Google.

Basically, I would want a mixture of what I stated above:

• a workplace where I get to work with others,
• A place where I get to write and design things
• A career with health, dental, a good vacation package and leave, and a good retirement plan.

If I could have the above while making a positive impact, that would be great.