By SAMANTHA GRISWOLD
managing editor, news

It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even want to turn on the news anymore. I don’t want to see what’s going on in the world – especially in our country.
It’s very disappointing and disheartening to read news stories about a little girl who can’t receive medical treatment simply because she was born in the wrong country, or that a bunch of rich people who will never have to worry about money want to take away health care from over 20 million Americans.
It seems like all I ever read anymore is about the evils that have been happening more and more lately. They say that the things that make news that people want to read are the tragic, unfortunate stories — the ones about the triple homicides or the swastikas painted on the cars of a subway.
Nobody writes news about fluffy puppies or cancer patients in remission — though I’d love to read a story about fluffy puppies. We need more of those.
Not that I necessarily agree with this, but news is first and foremost a business — CNN and MSNBC exist to make money. They write what they know people will read and people will read tragic stories.
The United States is going through a huge period of change at the moment, which has created a massive storm of political nonsense that is being fed to us 24/7.
Like I do with everything else I don’t know how to deal with, I try to ignore it and hope that it goes away.
I am a sad excuse for a human being who shuts down when she is faced with issues that she can’t solve. I’ve always hated those who are apathetic, but that’s what I’ve become when it comes to the news.
Yet, I still read the news. It’s so important to stay up-to-date on the happenings in the world — especially now.
I am an argumentative person – anybody who knows me knows that. And frankly, if you’re going to be argumentative and opinionated, you’ve got to know what the hell you’re talking about.
If there’s one thing I hate, its ignorant people who talk out of their derrieres because they feel the need to spew their ill-formed thoughts.
Though my blood pressure raises about 5 points every time I read a story about how Donald Trump wants to take away more of what it means to be an American or how we now have yet another uneducated, unexperienced person serving in a position they did nothing to earn, it’s a necessary evil.
So, yeah, even though the state of my country makes me want to pick up and move to Canada, I will continue to read the news — and try my hardest not to have a meltdown when I do.

SAMANTHA GRISWOLD
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