bright days Sally Swindell

Sally Swindell

There’s something really ugly about today’s media, and it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. Many hair salons now refuse to stock gossip magazines since the suicide of TV presenter Caroline Flack (she may have been a bit messed up, but everyone who knew her says she was one of the kindest people they ever knew).

Everything from reality TV shows to right-wing news channels, all seem to delight in almost ‘smirking’ their way through covering stories or events, delighting in when people often very vulnerable, are having a hard time.

How different from even say 30 years ago. There was none of the ‘nastiness’ associated with our culture. Remember the TV game show Bullseye? That was the real England, sheer kindness to all the contestants and darts players, in a real spirit of who we really are.

A good example of what has wrong are daytime TV programs like ‘Come Dine with Me’ or ‘Coach Trip‘. The ‘entertainment’ all seems to be about everyone falling out, or bitching about each other. But if you travel to continental Europe and watch the same shows (they are syndicated all over the world), it’s far more civil.

Nobody is laughing at each other behind backs, or making nasty gossip. Why is it in England that this only seems to happen?

Same with online reviews. Sure if you have some constructive criticism, then do so. But people don’t deserve the hatred. We have enough of that in the world going on right now.

No matter what your beliefs on the subject – recently one classically-trained astrologer made a video, calling Kamala Harris as the likely winner of the US election. She now admits that she got it wrong. But the comments on her YouTube channel was so nasty, that for the first time ever, she had to shut down the comments, to protect herself.

We actually had Trump call the Democratics ‘demonic’. How on earth does this go towards creating world peace? And why is the mass media not calling him out on this, and asking why it’s acceptable for the most powerful person on earth to use words like this, to describe those who oppose him?

Live by the saying – ‘If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all’. In fact, leaving nasty comments online is cowardly, as it’s often done by people who would not say things to your face.

ReThink is a simple app, created by an inventive Indian teenager, who was upset on hearing of the suicide of a girl around her own age in Florida. It basically reads messages that youngsters are about to send, then asks them if they really want to send it?

For instance, if an angry young teen is about to send a message like ‘I hope you die’ – the app picks it up and says along the lines of ‘Please don’t do that, it could cause so much hurt’. In most cases, the potential sender then does not send the message, possibly saving lives.

Be an encourager. Scatter sunshine. Who knows whose life you might touch, with something as simple as a kind word. Debbie Macomber

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