Our piece about a Supreme Court's decision to dismiss fines against ABC and Fox, led to comments from households that have greatly reduced their television intake. Of course, most acknowledged the obvious — they're still on the internet (hardly a space known for its sterling regulation of decency), and did we detect a little of one-up-manship?
" Susan Lewis" wrote:
"... I have literally eliminated TV in my house. No cable, no dish, no FIOS, no converter box. I have one set, and a DVD player. Period."
" Douglas P" replied:
"I'll go you one better. I don't even have a 'TV' or a 'DVD Player.' My last television broke about 7 years ago and I've never replaced it. About the same time I gave away my DVD player. I do occasionally watch DVD's on my iMac which has a screen bigger and higher resolution than the one in my house as a kid.
"But mostly I've substituted my addiction to television and movies with the methadone addiction to the internet. At least I've quit caffeine."
" Gabriele Belden," however, is still on the two hour plan:
"I have reduced my TV time to about two hours a night because I cannot abide the crude language and am adverse to ducking behind my couch to avoid flying bullets and/or blood! I stick to the music channels and read instead. Do watch PBS though. But usually only the nature and Masterpiece Mystery shows. I could write a segment of anyone's news. It's the same every day."
(Marissa Alioto is an intern with NPR's Social Media Desk.)
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