[trippinmickey]

The news and most people in general will focus mental illness when there a wrothy news event . Example A drive by shooting or a robbery gone wrong where someone dies may be mention once one the news . But someone with a mental illness does something wrong its drag though the news for weeks with the public in a outrage how this person is walking the streets .We wonder why people step back and turn away when they find out you have a mental well this is why . In this country we are the black sheeps the fact are there are more mentally ill people in jails in this country then in the hospital which are all closing down due to budget cuts .

I live in Phila. Pa where there are 1 to3 killings a day but you will here little about this on the news but last week a mentally ill man acttacked someone on a train with a hammer didnt kill him or injure him bad but its been all over the news everyday with the focus on mental illness why is the public so hard on mental illness when a crime is committed . Ive been put in jail before during a bipolar melt down and they are filled with mentally ill people who committed minor crimes and spending years locked up because they have know place to go when they are released they are kept till a bed is found and guess what there are no beds . So their they set locked up for years pass their time .

Jails have become all new mental hospitals and with a public who wants us locked and to threw a way the key attitude and it all begins with the news trying to over due a story for better ratings. So **** the news .As you can tell this upsets me . Is it me or have you seen the same black list as me on the news!

[complic8d]

I've got to agree with you. It seems like whenever there's something like a school shooting, it makes big news when the person is found to have some mental illness. Then they wonder how can they protect themselves from such a beast. Mental illnesses are still so misunderstood by the public and until they educate themselves they will live in ignorance and we will live with stigma.
That's my 2 (er, 10) cents worth!

[(JD)]

I saw that particular incident. I think that it was caught on the train's camera system is what made it so easy for the media to replay it? It's unfortunate all the way 'round imo.

I have thought for many years now that there is not much news worth watching.

[Karissa258]

Originally Posted by _Sky

I have thought for many years now that there is not much news worth watching.

I agree - I'm actually angry about the fact that the news turns so many people off with its unending parade of violence and tragedy. It's hard to listen to that day after day. I think there should be some government rules and regulations for the news, in that there needs to be an equal amount of time spent discussing possible solutions as well as problems, and focusing on human accomplishments as well as tragedies. (There are new scientific discoveries, works of art, archeological finds happening every day, but they hardly get a mention on the news. It doesn't have to be that way.)

Back on topic: yes, the news slams the mental health community, but I think it's getting a little better. There's a public service campaign going on about mental illness, asking young people to support their friends who have mental illness. It's pretty cool.

[314159pi]

Originally Posted by VioletMcCall

I agree - I'm actually angry about the fact that the news turns so many people off with its unending parade of violence and tragedy. It's hard to listen to that day after day. I think there should be some government rules and regulations for the news, in that there needs to be an equal amount of time spent discussing possible solutions as well as problems, and focusing on human accomplishments as well as tragedies. .

if the government stops free speech, it won't be the media closed down--it will be us. the media has the power and we don't. so whose knob is gonna be cranked down in the end?
crazy people with hammers are news worthy btw. so is the state of our mental health system which leaves patients like that on the street.
i think it should be made clear to the media through advocacy activities of people like us that we really don't carry hammers around train stations as a rule. and raise the issues of service cuts against our needs. it is cheaper and safer and more productive to help the mentally ill than it is to lock them up. that's the message we need to get out there.
jails are for violent people regardless of their mental health.

[Karissa258]

Originally Posted by 314159pi

if the government stops free speech, it won't be the media closed down--it will be us. the media has the power and we don't. so whose knob is gonna be cranked down in the end?
crazy people with hammers are news worthy btw. so is the state of our mental health system which leaves patients like that on the street.
i think it should be made clear to the media through advocacy activities of people like us that we really don't carry hammers around train stations as a rule. and raise the issues of service cuts against our needs. it is cheaper and safer and more productive to help the mentally ill than it is to lock them up. that's the message we need to get out there.
jails are for violent people regardless of their mental health.

If we're talking about major news media, it's not really free speech - it's bought and paid for by their advertisers, who are not going to support any news that doesn't support them. I know what you're saying, and I don't want to see free speech go either, but I do think there can be some laws passed that determines what constitutes news and what doesn't, that won't harm free speech - hearing talk of pop stars like Brittney Spears on the nightly news is ridiculous. That didn't happen when I was a kid. The unending parade of violence, etc. has been going on forever, the "if it bleeds, it leads" idea, but that doesn't mean it should keep on going on - it turns too many people off of watching it, and it's vital that all citizens should be informed of what's going on. That doesn't mean that no bad news should air, I just want more equal time devoted to solutions and achievements, rather than problems and tragedies all the time.

[314159pi]

i think you misunderstood me. of course commercial speech does not enjoy the same level of constitutional protection as political speech. but bad news does have a political agenda--one that order must be imposed. that is a right wing agenda and you are playing right into it, violet.
again the press makes the rules, we would suffer in comparison to the multinationals who own the media when order is imposed from above.
and gossip about stars have existed as long as the movies themselves in spite of your claim to the opposite. fifty years ago there were stories about telullah bankhead not wearing underwear which are similar to britany spears' hoochiegate.
you have a choice of what and where you read and write. there are journals like the nation and the new yorker which take the approach you suggest but i doubt you subscribe to them because you don't mention them. you want to impose your own values on pop culture because you imagine it might improve society. it won't.

[(JD)]

Let's not talk partisan politics here...or any designated politics, as all sides employ media tactics and polities. The FCC is the arm of "reason" for one to complain to regarding what any station puts on the air. Each licensing period each station has to prove that they are providing what the people want. You can write the station(s) with your complaints and also write the FCC. There are already rules, some not being kept, regarding what and when some material can be aired. Truly if enough complaints come in, a station manager will make changes. It has happened a few times this campaign series already, btw.
Right now there is a bill before Congress, trying to be reenacted regarding "fair" representation. It sounds good, but what it will do is prevent stations from carrying everything, because to do so they will have to (by law) also present the opposing viewpoint. It's not a good thing. Anytime someone begins fiddling with free speech, it's the people who suffer, imo.
But complain we can! Power to the people?

[Karissa258]

Originally Posted by 314159pi

i think you misunderstood me. of course commercial speech does not enjoy the same level of constitutional protection as political speech. but bad news does have a political agenda--one that order must be imposed. that is a right wing agenda and you are playing right into it, violet.
again the press makes the rules, we would suffer in comparison to the multinationals who own the media when order is imposed from above.
and gossip about stars have existed as long as the movies themselves in spite of your claim to the opposite. fifty years ago there were stories about telullah bankhead not wearing underwear which are similar to britany spears' hoochiegate.
you have a choice of what and where you read and write. there are journals like the nation and the new yorker which take the approach you suggest but i doubt you subscribe to them because you don't mention them. you want to impose your own values on pop culture because you imagine it might improve society. it won't.

I think we're talking at cross purposes in some regards.
I don't think I'm playing into the right wing's agenda. I want certain standards and practices for what constitutes different kinds of news - there's a place for entertainment news, just not at the national, 6 o'clock level. That's the time for national and international news that deals with government, business, etc.. The press makes the rules, you're right, but they don't have to, is what I'm saying. If we want them to air certain kinds of news at certain times, we can pass laws saying that. That doesn't have to hamper free speech.