Dialing in the local -- it's good for you!

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday and he said something interesting, completely unprompted.

He said he had given up satellite radio to save a few bucks and gone back to listening to local radio. That means NCPR, but also other stations based here in the North Country.

"I just feel better," he said.

We talked about it a bit and there were two basic, almost subliminal shifts that he could name.

First, he felt more connected to his community. None of the textures of our lives or communities exist in the macro-media jumble of cable-TV and radio.

Also, many of the national and global news providers are, to put it bluntly, borderline pathological.

The tone and pitch of their "conversation" is hysterical, and not in the ha-ha sense of the word.
The sky is falling. The world is ending. All hell is breaking loose. All the time.

And because it's happening on a massive canvas (The Whole Friggin' World) there's nothing you can do about it.

It's basically news and information filtered through a horror film sensibility. Just sit back and watch the tidal wave approach...

The truth, of course, is very, very different.

We happen to live in a pretty great world, measurably more peaceful, healthy and economically equitable than ever before.

Yes, problems exist, but in my lifetime alone we've ended one planet-wrecking threat (the Cold War) and begun in earnest trying to tackle another (climate change).

In our country individual citizens can accomplish remarkable things -- at least on a local and regional scale.

I see this every day and we tell those stories (as do other local and regional media).

I think the "local food" and "buy local" ethics have a very real analogue in the media that you consume.

Go out today and buy a copy of your local newspaper. If you go to the internet for your news, add a local or regional blog as part of your daily diet.

I'm convinced that you'll learn more about your world and about your neighbors. It might even lower your blood pressure a few points.

Comments welcome below...