At my new residence they have Direct Tv and quite a few channels.  There are the requisite local channels, which I am very accustomed to watching as we didn't have cable or dish or direct where I last lived.  But once you xnay the pay per view channels, sports channels, selling channels, there are still many left but few with any real offerings.  Let's face it.  Modern television is full of dreck.
Then you have a handful of news networks.  One evening, no, actually less than an hour, of listening to Nancy Grace shriek on and on regarding the Caylee Anthony case was enough for me.  Today on Headline News they were discussing the case again.  They seem to repeat the same stuff over and over and take calls from viewers.  For goodness sake, you can take any piece of news and commit the heinous crime of overkill on it until you just can't stand to hear it anymore.  And I have only watched bits and pieces of news in the last 24 hours!
In the past couple of days I have found my tv watching nearly always being the local stations and I have been perfectly entertained and even informed by watching just that.  ABC had two good shows on last night and I found the interview with Patrick Swayze phenomenal.
It is no wonder that celebrities and others thrust in the spotlight alike are sick of the media and the news companies.  It is enough to make you gag.  There is nothing private in this day and age.  If you are unfortunate enough to be thrust into the spotlight via the news media then you must feel as though you are living in a fishbowl large enough for everyone to peer into.
Oh, to return to the nightly news after a half hour of your local news.  Because of technology the simpler and I think more enjoyable reading of the newspaper is going the way of the dodo.  We are even barraged on the internet, but fortunately can change sites with ease.
Honestly, "news" has become a monster in and of itself.  Thank God I can change the channel.