Kelly Ward, among others, suggested:
> Meanwhile....boycott tv. I agree that it is the culprit of much of our
> societal malaise.
If you think boycotting TV is the (an) answer, check out National TV
Turn-off Week (April 24-30, 1996) sponsored by TV-Free America, 1322
18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 887-0436,
tvfa@essential.org
They can help you and students at your University get involved in
this national effort calling attention to the problem of people
watching too much tv. They suggest setting up a table in the student
union where students, faculty, and staff can sign up to "fast" from
television for a week. You can give out buttons, ribbons, etc. They
can send you posters, etc. Sounds like a good service project to me.
But I also think that this effort is only a small part of the
solution to the myriad of problems that result from the influence of
tv and other media technologies. After the week is over, what will
change? Will those who have given up a week of tv become more aware
of their tv viewing habits and want to change them? Perhaps. And
that's a good thing.
But I would push Putnam and the rest of us who agree with him a step
further and say that it is not only TIME spent in front of the tube
that is destructive to civic community participation, but on a deeper
level, it is the CONTENT and the WAY WE TAKE IN that content that is
far more dangerous.
Bob Dole got a lot of political mileage complaining about violence on
tv and this v-chip legislation has received a lot of press lately
too. When we start putting some of these simplistic complaints and
proposed solutions together with what Putnam is saying and what the
American Psychiatric Association has been saying for years, we get
something like this: Violence in the media, in particular, is
dangerous to democracy because of the following:
1. It makes some people more aggressive.
2. It increases viewers' appetites for violence in entertainment
and in real life
*3. It desensitizes us to violence and to victims of violence
***4. It makes us mistrustful, increasing our fear of becoming a
victim of violence resulting in an increase in "self-protective
behaviors." George Gerbner calls this the "mean world syndrome."
Thus, fed a diet of increasingly more graphic violence through a
medium like television which through visual and audio images effects
our right-brain, emotional side rather than our more rational
left-brain activities, how can our society not become less trustful.
Studying the effects of media violence has only led me to wonder how
our civic society has survived this long, given the huge amount of
time most people "veg" in front of the tube.
But it's not just graphic unnecessary violence that so easily
infiltrates our personal and collective values through the media.
There are all sorts of other anti-civic participation messages that
we subconsciously take in when we are in this "vegging" mode. What
does the onslaught of materialistic, consumeristic messages we
receive from advertisers do to our nation's sense of concern for the
common good? It blows it to smithereens, because the constant
message is "what will really make you happy is what you can buy." Or
what about subtle promotion of individualism found in so many of
today's most popular tv programs and their main characters, as well
as popular music, etc.?
The answer, to me, is not simply to kill the tv. That is too simple.
It is too much a part of our society. We cannot go back.
The answer is media literacy. We need to be using our left-brain,
critical, rational side when we watch and/or listen. And we need to
teach others to do the same--not just children, but other adults.
Most other countries have such programs as part of their public
school curriculum because they don't want their children to grow up
learning from imported tv shows what they consider to be "American
values." And it's a great idea for us Americans too, especially
since citizenship and civic participation are much more often
criticized than espoused by tv shows. Tocqueville would have a hard
time finding "American values" on tv today.
But media literacy also helps people to find the good stuff in the
media. And there is a lot of it, if you look. PBS, A&E, the
History Channel, etc. are chock full of great stuff that those who kill
their tv's are missing. Media literate people are active watchers of
tv who actively choose what they want to see (rather than sitting and
flipping the remote), who use tv shows as discussion starters with
their families and friends, and who talk back to their tv sets when
their personal and democratic values are criticized.
I'll get off my soapbox now, but if you are interested in learing
more about media literacy, contact the folks at the Center for Media
Literacy at 1962 S. Shenandoah, Los Angeles, CA 90034,
1-800-226-9494.
Peace,
Nick
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Nick Cardilino "A different world cannot be built
University of Dayton by indifferent people."
Center for Social Concern --Horace Mann
E-mail: cardilin@trinity.udayton.edu
Phone: (513)-229-2524 Fax: (513)-229-2035
homepage: http://www.udayton.edu/~campmin
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