Television personalities. I often wonder if that is their real personality, or just their professional one. The news people are the ones I think about most often. I identify them with their station. I’m curious about who does the hiring.

Some stations appear to focus on the physical appearance of their reporters, while other try to present a more “diverse” bunch of characters. We all foster a sense of loyalty to certain reporters, a form of trust. I expect that is the goal when hiring a reporter to get your audience to do that.

I’m old. I think the days of television reporters that had our genuine trust has passed. Walter, Dan and Tom. All were trusted and respected. Dan had a dramatic fall from grace; Walter just grew old and retired. Tom retired due to health concerns.

Today it seems like it is the social media personalities that enjoy that same popularity and trust. I just shake my head about that considering they are called influencers. It’s a bit of a shift. Walter wasn’t trying to influence you, neither was Dan or Tom. They just told the facts and let you decide what was what.

The public has grown lazy. They don’t even want to think for themselves, make any decision, just allow themselves to be influenced. Back in my day, the goal was to think for yourself! Then, having made a decision, you stuck by that decision. No one wanted to be wishy-washy.

Those reporters earned that trust. Of course, I realize we didn’t see them nearly as much as we see reporters today. Everyone is exposed these days. Did we know the political opinions of those reporters? Their personal lives were separate from their professional lives. Almost an impossibility today.

I don’t watch nearly as much television as I used to. I still watch the news, something old people do, and I watch a lot of old shows. There have been very few new programs, shows or sitcoms that captured my interest in the last ten years! All the funny stuff has been canceled! Even documentaries ruin the story!

Television, and its’ personalities is definitely on the decline. I expect You Tube, Tic-Tok, Inta-Gram and all of that will eventually take its’ place entirely. Once it is no longer commercially viable it will end. The streaming services will dominate. I have cut the cable!

It’s my thinking that the days of television personalities are coming to an end. With all the social media platforms out there, the field has just become too crowded. It is getting harder to stand out in that crowd! And the fall from popularity can happen in an instant these days.

No one is safe from personal attacks. The gloves have come off, all sense of decency and decorum thrown to the wind. Name calling, accusations and just plain mudslinging is the order of the day. Respect for position or authority is challenged at every turn.

All of these thought stem from yesterday’s posting concerning pretense. There was a day when we all, at the very least, presented a pretense of civility. We trusted each other a lot more than we do today. Have we become jaded? Yes, I think that is the case.