Satellite TV
I write this section not to say that the programming on Satellite TV is “fun”1; rather, interacting and reflecting with this “artifact” of the past was interesting.
I mean, the experience of flickering through the TV channels knowingly constrained by your local set of broadcasting stations ranging from NCIS, News, Gospels, and “Sales Channels?”2. It is all too humbling of an experience, given how everyone has moved on to streaming services like Netflix or YouTube. So if you can convert your TV to use the internet nowadays, why use satellite TV?
Local News
One of the merits of TV and demerits is tuning in to local news stations. There is that sense of community fostered, knowing everyone is watching the same channel of information. Knowing collectively about the one-off events around town, watching the same weather forecasts, and hearing the general talk of the town does seem to create a sense of community.
My gripe is that my experience of news networks has largely painted all news, even local news, as “bad”. I would have to be convinced that the local news is somehow different than a form of “entertainment” and truly a medium from which to get “information.”
The newer generation, or at least me, have a large disregard and general disillusionment towards “TV media” as something genuine. That isn’t to say the alternative of social media is any better.
It’s to say that the premise of TV disseminating “truth” because it costs a lot has not won out against the “near-zero” cost of posting something on social media. Either way, I don’t blatantly trust TV media or social media.