Back in the day, I would sit in church and would roll my eyes as someone would stand at the pulpit and rip on the media. It was kinda' a joke between me and my friend, Krikava. He works in politics, and I work in the media; our industries were constantly ripped on.
I understood the disdain. I haven't been blind to the poor influences of media. But I got into the business to try and make a difference in the world... and hoping to use its powers for good.
I've been weeding out the media I let into my life for quite a while. Last year I started cutting back on the amount of television I watch. Lots of family sitcoms tend to twist the roles of the family around. Particularly, it irritates me when I see the standard show about the "dumb dad." It's pretty annoying and disrespectful and has bothered me for many years. And there are also the shows with the kids who are mean to each other... not to mention the slutty teenagers, which absolutely is unacceptable to me.
Movies are another form of entertainment I love, but it's frustrating. Throughout the years, I've tended to be fairly anti-rated R (almost as strongly as I'm anti-McDonald's). It's put me in some sticky situations from time to time, but my friends have continued to hang out with me even if I'd left at the start of a movie. I took a break from my rated-R restriction when I was dating someone, and quite frankly, it wasn't worth it.
Music.
This is the tough one for me. There are songs I love that have bad words in them or mean messages. And I just can't listen to them anymore, regardless of their cool rhythms.
So where does this leave me? I'm a woman who works in network news and I hear about "bad stuff" all the time. Do I wiggle my way out as my testimony grows and my tolerance for smut weakens?
I know I might sound rather snobby here, but I really don't care. This is something I've been debating for a long time, and I'm just not sure how to handle it anymore.
I'm at another point in my life where I'm considering another career change. It's important to me that I see my good works sift into my work.
When I first joined the church, I gave up a lot of friends.
That was hard for me but necessary.
And now, I'd like to give up my job for something a little more meaningful. Sure, there are days that I love what I do. And I always get the stories that are fun and light-hearted because my bosses know how I feel about "bad news." But still, how effective am I being? Am I really bringing light to my work? Or am I just feeding a mean beast?
Lately I've had a bit on my plate to think about. And I haven't really had too many people I've wanted to talk about it with. But one of the big things is my job. I know, I know. I've been talking about getting out of the business for years. I'm just a bit scared.