Does It Bother Anyone Else??

The storms are terrible. The war is horrible. The wedding is going to happen no matter what. Its possible to change stations and see all news all the time, all sports, all music, all junk. I have a hard time watching nothing but the scary awful news of death and dying. I try to catch enough to know what is happening in the world, and my local area, but then I cant stomach it anymore and can become physically sick, so I change the station and watch or listen to something lighter and more enjoyable. I think the hype on the wedding is a bit much, but it is better than another disaster taking hundreds of lives on the news.
I want to add, Thankyou to all the servicemen, and women, who leave their families and put themselves in danger for us. I do care about them. HUGE sacrifice they are giving.

All I've seen lately are the tornadoes, havent even seen a thing about the wedding today actually.
I'm thinking it will be a good blend. We can't be all doom and gloom all the time.
Even tho I'm not interested in the wedding, I would watch it over the tornado devastation probably.

I'm guessing you gave up on fairy tales a long time ago?

First of all, the packages for the wedding have been prepared weeks in advance. Weather is a little less predictable. In most news broadcasts they have space for last-minute developments and prepared packages.

Yes, there has been a lot negative to focus on in the news.... Apocalyptic weather, catastrophic global finance, more wars than we can shake a fist at.... There is a need to have something pretty to look at amid all the ugly. Pretty spectacle is something the Royal Family is very, very good at.

This is also a pretty historical event. In 1981, it was newsworthy that the Prince had found an aristocratic virgin to become the future Queen of England. Now, thirty years later, a woman of "common" lineage and most likely not virginal (she and Prince William did live together) is being accepted into the Royal Family. Big change. Could this signal the kind of change that may herald the continuation of a monarchy that has been rumored to be gasping for its life breath for decades?

For many who mourned the loss of Diana and lamented for her sons, this is the continuation of a story that has spanned decades.

I am in California, we get MOST of the wedding updates on CNN and our local news coverage has far more coverage on what's going on with our brothers and sisters in the South. I can assure you that many Americans and people around the world are praying for the people and states affected by the storms, floods and hurricanes.

I do plan to watch the wedding because when we have so much BAD news, why not take some time out for some happiness. I think Prince William and his bride will have a long and lasting marriage. His mother's passing when he and his brother were so young, was so very sad. The UK hasn't had too many happy moments in a long time.

Please stay safe and know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Blessings....

My husband is deployed and the war gets very little coverage! Eight members of our Air Force were killed yesterday in Afghanistan. Did that even make the news?

oh, I just saw you are also from Leavenworth! Hi neighbor!

I live in South Mississippi so the storms are big news here...and big news for me, personally, as I know people affected by them and have friends working the recovery.

But, the royal wedding is national news, I expect it to usurp our news.

Now, if my local media gave it more play today than last nights devastating storms then I would have taken issue with it.

God Bless

Nope, doesn't bother me.

The south had tornadoes. Someone else will get them either this spring or next year. You mean we have tornadoes?!? In this country?!? Knock me over with a feather! And for the record, I've lived through 2 tornadoes - one that had me trapped in a mall as a teenager for several hours until it was safe to emerge and another where my house was spared yet the one next to me had a tree fall on it.

The royal wedding is of worldwide interest. And, because of that, advertisers are clamoring for commercial slots on the channels that are being watched by the masses of people who are tuning in. Networks make money off of this, so they all jockey for coverage from every angle.

This is a once-in-a-generation event and people are interested, so networks are going to put on programming that appeals to their widest audiences.

What I don't understand is how horribly polarizing the concept of the wedding has become. Either people like it or hate it, but guess what? If you don't like it you don't have to watch it!

Yes, it bothers me - I noticed the same thing today.

My mom stood in a tiny bathroom with 4 of her grandchildren last night - wondering if they were going to make it out alive (they don't have a basement and that was the only room with no window).

So ya, the news could be a little more focused (though I do understand the hoop-la about the wedding).

PS: My mom and everyone is fine, save getting very little sleep, trees down everywhere, and hail damage to several vehicles.

I'm in CT where we get the remnants of the storms, so we're hearing a lot about them and the deaths. I self-limit the news I watch and that includes Wills&Kate's wedding. But I always self-limit the news I watch so this is nothing new. I have a pretty serious generalized anxiety disorder so this is how I handle it.

But no, it doesn't bother me. The wedding is of worldwide interest and things like that don't happen very often. It's going to be a huge social event and celebration. I don't see that the tornadoes need to take over and the wedding needs to be minimized as long as the tornadoes ARE being covered appropriately. If you want more coverage by your local news then e-mail your local stations. You can also go to Twitter and follow the major networks for breaking news and get headlines right away that you might not otherwise get immediately on TV.

Yes you're the only one..... This royal wedding is history in the making. This has been in the planning for months and the world awaited it anxiously. So happy it IS all over the news, because it is some wonderful happy news instead of the dreaded regular downer news of storms, violence, etc. It is Not in poor taste, the only way you could say something like that is because you are wrapped up in your own egocentric world where everything in the world revolves around what you feel to be newsworthy, not what the world feels is. I am really shocked there are people out there who think as you do - you obviously don't understand the significance - many Americans are clueless about British royalty.
Personally, I am sick of hearing about all the storms....natural disasters happen unfortunately, move somewhere else where they don't happen. Watch the weather channel if you want to hear about the massive destruction all day long, I choose to watch something positive like Wills and Kate on their big day.... stop being a party pooper.

I dont really watch TV but I would rather see something happy like the wedding than see people suffering when its not at all helpful to watch that, just sad and depressing.

Weather is all that is on the news here. My husband was complaining about the wedding coverage. As I am not that interested in it, personally I am happy to see the coverage. The past few years of news coverage has been nothing less than depressing. I am more than happy to hear about some happiness for a change!!!!!

I'm in TN, and I am seeing TONS of coverage on the news! I am watching national news too, and I have seen only a few snippets of the wedding... It's crazy though. There is a lot of damage in the town (5 minutes down the road) near us... Luckily our home is in a spot that is sheltered from tornados, but we still got a lot of wind damage. Lots of trees down, a couple lightning struck. The worst I have heard so far is that one of my FIL's employees has lost his home, and 9 month old baby... his other 2 kids are still missing...

It bothers me a little that anyone even cares about the royal wedding. What is the point in having royalty in this day & age? We got rid of that baggage in 1776, and I have absolutely no interest in perpetuating such customs.

You're definitely right to object to such a trivial matter getting tremendous news coverage while people are dying and losing their homes due to all the horrible storms.

Maybe what some people need is some "good" news, after all.
It IS history at the end of the day. Whether you think it's newsworthy or not.

I think there are new for everything. I mean, the radio station I hear they never talk about reality shows, the only times I hear about an actress is if there is a relations with politics. Other way is all about money and politic stuff.
Then I see a tv show that they only talk about reality tv.
I am sure there is media where they could care less about the wedding and focus in this tragedy.
Sorry to read about the grandma and her 4 grandchildren last night, that is sad =0(

I'm hearing quite a bit about the storms and tornados here in Cali, I think it's great that finally the media is focusing on something positive for a change, the wedding is harmless , I find it really refreshing!

I agree with PP. My husband is also deployed (hi Leavenworth folks! We just moved from there last summer).
He was near where the troops were killed yesterday.
I was irate...all TV new had on was the Royal Wedding, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, who has fake lips, who has fake boobs.
The media has its priorities FUBARed!

The Weather is all they talk about down here. Just watched a 15 minute weather portion of our local news.

What bothered me was one of our local news stations, trying to get viewers, had a teaser that OMG!!!!11 FEMA is heading south and we haven't cleaned up St Louis. Doesn't that bother you? No! Actually it doesn't. Holy heck there are only so many people in FEMA, they NEED to be down south. We didn't lose lives, we are lucky. It is sad when ratings take priority over human kindness.

I know what you mean, but I think the public has been deluged with so much negative lately, from disasters to political bickering, that there's demand for this lighter fluff happy story. Not defending the choice, but I think that's the reality of why it's making the news so big-time.

The royal family is actually not just tied to the UK, but to the entire Commonwealth... Queen Elizabeth is also Queen to Canada (our largest trading partner), & Australia. The UK has been our most vocal supporter on scores of major and minor geopolitical issues. The royal family has as much political clout, in our own country not to mention their own which greatly exceeds ours, as the very small number of people who sit upon the boards of the world's largest multinationals... but they are "public" people (as opposed to the billionaires running multinationals) who are responsible for a people (that we are closely allied with) as opposed to their own personal agendas. (Consider how courted our billionaires are for their philanthropy and political mores, much less our meager entertainment celebrities). We *absolutely* depend on the UK's security services, treaties, and alliances for our own position in the world.

ANY change in the British Royal Family, especially in the direct line of succession is HUGE news that will be affecting world politics for decades. Sure... pretty dresses & handsome young men are a dime a dozen... but it's the *power* that the royal family wields, and the change in structure of that family that is the news behind the pretty dresses. Elected politicians come and go with predictable frequency.... but Multinational Board members & Royal Families ... these are political giants that last for decades and longer.

I think no matter what else is going on, the fuss over the royal family is absurd. What have they actually done over the past century?... Why do people care about them? I do agree with some posters though that people need something good sometimes to hear about and I think this wedding is captivating some people too because the royal couple actually seem like nice people. I personally am cheered to see what appears to be a good, mature relationship and Kate seems to be a good role model (so far) for young girls. So it's a nice change from much of what we see out of Hollywood at least.