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Whatever happened to potholders?
You know, the ones we always used to get at election time, dropped off by door-to-door canvassers on their appointed neighborhood rounds.
Or we got them at rallies in the school cafeteria. My parents may have gone to debate the issues, but for us kids, bringing home those potholders was one of our first lessons in civic responsibility.
In 1986 the California Senate race was the most expensive Senate campaign in history. Between them Alan Cranston and Ed Zchau raised nearly $28 million. Of that, over $20 million went to media expenses: buying time, producing... Read More
When The American Farmer, the first American sports magazine, was founded in 1819, it covered fishing, hunting, shooting, bicycle races and the philosophy of sport. Sports Illustrated, today's premier American sports weekly, has a circulation of 2.8 million. It covers fishing, hunting, shooting, bicycle racing and the philosophy of sport, as well as a few additions such as baseball, football, basketball, hockey. Esoteric extras like rock climbing and falconry add to the mix.
Public interest in sports and today's media-driven fan network are taken for granted, but indeed, it might be argued... Read More
Television... computers... radio... video... music... film... billboards...cable... Everywhere you look: media!
As the media world expands, many of our readers tend to be casualties of the Media Age — from children who suffer nightmares from televised violence to families whose income diminishes as credit rises and automatic tellers fluorish. On the other hand, many see the potential of new media as a solution. For example, coomputerized electronic bulletin boards can efficiently centralize services for the disabled while audio tapes and telephone trees keep the elderly in touch with their... Read More
Since David danced before the ark of the Lord (and scandalized at least some of the elders of Israel?) religious people have been debating the dangers and opportunities presented by music's ability to stir the blood and increase the heartbeat.
And possibly the first "lyrics problem" in the Western tradition was faced by the editors of "The Songs of Songs," who managed to reinterpret its salacious-sounding lyrics into the story of God's relationship with humankind.
Last fall, we witnessed a later skirmish in this long battle. Following a Congressional hearing and the determined action of... Read More
Testimony Reveals Complexity of Sexual Violence Issue in Media
Panel seeks out diverse voices to better understand who's responsible and who can make a difference.
In 1982, in an effort to better understand the growing complexity of the entertainment culture in relation to the portrayal of violence in the media, especially violence against women, representatives of community and religious organizations,convened by the National Council of Churches, held hearings in New York and Los Angeles to hear first person from those in the industry. Over and over testifiers emphasized their status as small parts of a vast and complex system designed to parcel out responsibility, a little bit to everyone, so that in the end no one is ultimately accountable. Here is... Read More
I have in my vest pocket a calculator the size of a credit card and the thickness of about three pennies. It does a zillion functions. In it is a little chip which could be replaced with a much more sophisticated chip except then it could perform so many functions you wouldn't be able to fit all the buttons on the surface...at least your fingers couldn't push the buttons.
The problem is not technology. The problem is we have fat fingers!
— Bishop Pierre Dumaine
The moments of surrender proposed to us by video texts come in many forms, but all involve a complex dynamic of power and pleasure. We are, for instance, offered a kind of power through the enhancement of our vision. Close-ups position us where we could never stand. Slow motion allows us an extraordinary penetration into the mechanics of movement, and, combined with music; lends a balletic grace to ordinary forms of locomotion. Filters and other devices cause us to see the world through jaundiced or rose-colored optics, coloring events with emotion more effectively than verbal pathetic... Read More
Text vs. Context in Media Literacy: A Continuing Debate
Can a media ‘text' be separated from its political context? The authors explore an important debate in the field. By Justin Lewis and Sut Jhally The goal of media literacy is to help people become sophisticated citizens rather than sophisticated consumers. The authors argue against a purely "text-centered" approach in which media texts can be deconstructed and analyzed so we can choose among them. Instead, media literacy should integrate a textual analysis with questions of production and reception. An analysis of the structure of media institutions is particularly important if Americans are able to appreciate and argue for alternatives to a lightly regulated commercial media system. Media literacy is, therefore, a way of extending... Read More
TV and Christian Values: Media Literacy Techniques for the Home
It's how we interact, not what we watch, that's most important. By J. Francis Davis
"Do not model your behaviour on the TV world, but let the disciplined renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God– what is good and acceptable and mature." – Romans 12:2 (interpretation)
TV was a part of my childhood family as far back as I can remember. During the Vietnam war, Dad angrily talked back to the TV, and many times would turn off the set when I came in, stating succinctly that they shouldn't show those gruesome scenes when kids might be watching.
One of my first childhood memories is connected intimately to television... Read More
Educational TV May Boost Intellectual Development
But what and how much they watch makes a difference
Preschool children who watched a few hours a week of educational programming perform better on achievement tests over time than their peers who watch more general entertainment shows, according to researchers at the University of Texas in Austin.Dr. Aletha C. Huston, of the University of Texas in Austin.
"The public discussions dismissing television without distinguishing the content seem to be missing the boat." says Dr. Aletha C. Huston, who, along with the late John C. Wright and their colleagues followed nearly 200 children aged 2 to 7 over a 3-year period, tracking their television... Read More
Harvard University Hosts First US Media Literacy Teaching Institute
Program draws 90 teachers for intensive week of sharing and learning By Barry Duncan
Last summer from July 31-August 6, I had the privilege of helping to teach the first major Media Education Institute to be held in the United States since the 1970's. Sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge Massachusetts, the Institute attracted 85 participants from across North America, most of whom were teachers but also included journalists and representatives from churches and in various walks of life including a man who is a funeral director from Vancouver and was one of the keenest participants.
The mix was terrific! I especially enjoyed encounters with... Read More
Writing in New York magazine during the l988 primary campaign, media experts Edwin Diamond and Stephen Bates, authors of The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television, pointed out that political advertising for each campaign follows a predictable three-stage cycle. Knowing the stages can help any viewer follow the fortunes of each candidate and avoid being manipulated by slick advertising techniques. Here's what to look for:
Bio ads help candidates put their best faces forward. From Dukakis' stress on his immigrant background to spots featuring Robert Dole's Kansas hometown,... Read More
First National Media Literacy Conference -- Boone, NC -- 1995
Three-Day Event "Sows the Seeds" for Future Growth By Marieli Rowe Some 400 enthusiastic participants gathered in the hilly, lush green college town of Boone, North Carolina September 22-24, 1995 to talk, learn and share experiences about media literacy. It was certainly the largest, most diverse and prestigious group to come together in the United States to date. Located high in the Appalachian mountains, over 2 hours by car from Charlotte, Boone is not an easy place to reach!
Nearly two years in the planning, sponsored by the National Telemedia Council and V.I.E.W. (Visual Information Education Workshops), co-sponsored by Appalachian State University's... Read More
I made a resolution years ago to stop watching cop shows right before I went to bed. The corpses and car chases gave me nightmares. More and more often, the broadcasts open with the "nightside" reporter standing in front of the blood-soaked pavement next to the coroner's van.
Now it's the real life corpses that are keeping me up nights. It didn't used to be this way. A couple of years ago, it was fashionable to lead with a fire – any fire. One news director confessed he'd open his nightly newscast with flames and firemen from a blaze anywhere in the nation. The pictures of an active... Read More
The bedrooms of students in Santa Barbara County, California are wired. Television, telephones, stereos, radios and VCRs abound in striking numbers. Judging from the results and demographics of a study of media use by students in the Santa Barbara County school district in 1989, my guess is that this is the case almost everywhere.
We asked the 50,000 students in our county about their media consumption: How much TV do they actually watch? Outside of school assignments, do they ever read newspapers? Magazines? Books? And we included a question about the electronic items they have in their... Read More
Newspaper coverage of religion has long been one of the backwaters of American journalism. The religion beat has generally held lower status (where it exists at all) than other positions at newspapers, and stories on religion (if they appear) either get short shrift or are relegated to the Saturday "church page."
Several perceptions seem to underlie this approach to religion news. First, many journalists are convinced that we are in a period of secularization, with fewer and fewer people either actively religious or interested in religion. This perception is reinforced by declines in church... Read More
Can a Woman Deliver the News?
Only the United States uses a single, never-changing male anchor. By Anne M. Cooper Chen
A longstanding argument holds that women's voices are not authoritative on-air personalities. Following this tradition, U.S. network anchors have almost always been male, despite the star status of Barbara Walters and the more recent on-air success of women such as Diane Sawyer and Connie Chung.
Until recently there was little data on the situation in other countries. But as the research coordinator for a late 1980's study of women's participation in five countries' newscasts, I had the opportunity to observe that barriers against women are falling in many countries. At the same time, it... Read More
CHILDREN: Parents Can Help Defuse Bad News
What to do when violence, war and disasters dominate the news. By Judith M. Myers-Walls
News is now entertainment. TV news is no longer just "talking heads." From videos of the latest disaster to photos of missing children, even newspapers carry graphic headlines and photos. Most adults want children to be well informed and interested in current events, but what happens to children who watch re-enactments of crimes, see close-ups of murder victims, or experience the play-by-play excavation of trapped earthquake victims?
Adults have learned to distance themselves from the tragedies being enacted in their living rooms. But children have no such defenses. Unlike any previous... Read More
According to the Quality Statement of the Children's Broadcast Institute in Canada, quality programming for children:
Allows children to not merely be onlookers, but to be important participants or actors, if not main characters, and to play an active role (in the program). Is designed to promote the intellect, emotions and creativity of children in a systematic fashion that helps them make strides in their personal development. Respects the intelligence and critical judgment of children and their ability to reflect by avoiding oversimplification, stereotypes, propaganda and intellectual... Read More
As children grow beyond the preschool years, they begin to focus more on getting along with social groups than pleasing adults or merely making friends. At the same time, by the third or fourth grade, they gain control of the channel selector and begin to watch adult TV shows.
Parents who have been supervising young children's viewing since preschool may be tired out. Overseeing this age group's viewing is even more difficult. But it may be even more important. Children who were exposed to a variety of realistic female roles on child-centered programs like Sesame Street are suddenly immersed... Read More
Study Shows White Male Experts Dominate News
Famous Nightline Study Counts Talking Heads on TV By Donna Demac
If you want to see a clear example of the media's definition and reinforcement of power in U.S. society, just turn to the evening news and public-affairs programs. Despite minor stylistic differences, what stands out about network anchormen Jennings, Brokaw and Rather is their similar facial expressions, most noticeably the locked jaw that opens on command, followed by the closed jaw and glance downward to indicate a subject is closed.
Although other public-affairs programs feature guests instead of anchormen, they repeat this pattern. Invited experts are overwhelmingly white men, in... Read More
TVs Dark Vision Can Be Frightening to Elders
The issue of fear and concern about crime among the elderly is far more complex than earlier data suggests.
In the hit 1988 movie Crossing Delancy, a key scene shows heroine Izzy visiting her grandmother at a self-defense class for seniors. The fierce concentration of the elderly women students reflects their determination to protect themselves against purse snatchers and muggers.
In this case media reflects life: older people, among others, do take self-defense classes. But the scene also represents another phenomenon – the vulnerability and fears of older people, especially women, living isolated in urban neighborhoods. In Crossing Delancy, the media mirrors those fears. But in other cases, it... Read More
Attacking Ageism in Advertising
At AARP, Senior Stereotypes Give Way to Active Advertising By Robert Wood
An advertisement for a calcium dietary supplement, recently seen in numerous national magazines, depicts a woman's silhouette frame by frame as she moves rightward across a page. She is apparently aging before our eyes, growing progressively older and more stooped as she succumbs to osteoporosis. By the last frame she needs the support of a cane.
Another ad, obviously directed to the over-50 age group, pictures a stereotypical white-haired old lady leaning out of a car window and holding a glass of dark liquid. The headline reads: 'Prune Power To Go." Accompanying copy describes the virtues... Read More
From FDR's fireside chats to glitzy TV documentaries, politicians have been quick to recognize the power of media. Like product ads, today's political spots are designed to engage our inner emotions, using images and symbols to connect with our fears and desires.
The most effective political ads don't create new images, but instead capitalize on moods, beliefs and prejudices already held by listeners and watchers. TV ads, especially, base much of their effectiveness on viewers' habits of believing what they see. These days, the use of the media doesn't end there. As an Atlanta resident, I had... Read More
Press Conferences: Linking People With Their President
Noted author Norman Cousins reflects on the potential of the presidential press conference. By Norman Cousins
The recent spate of books on the Reagan presidency, in the words of a former White House occupant, has made one thing perfectly clear: Modern politicians excel in using media to display their programs and sell their ideologies. Unfortunately, the media's misuse as a public relations tool represents a major flaw in our informational system. In fact, if I were going to presume to offer the president advice it would be this: Never forget that the president's most important role is to educate the American people about their needs and how best to meet them.
Surely no politician in the world has as... Read More