Nick- I agree with you completely about the breadth of damaging messages
in the media (Kelly is right-violence is a major one but there are others
which may be even more insidious and dangerous to our social & personal health, such as consumerism, a
i.e., definition of success as individual wealth and glamour, the
promotion of the do-it-all-woman in advertising--could this be one reason why we are
all too busy for community, trying to do it all?--, etc.). Yes to turning
off the tv--as an exercise in intelligent, critical thinking and an effort to
send a message to programmers--and yes to an effort to intelligently turn
it on when it is useful. Thanks for the information on Media Literacy.
-Oney Crandall
PLU
On Tue, 12 Mar 1996, Nick Cardilino wrote:
> 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
>
> ======================================================================
> 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
> ======================================================================
>