NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20

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Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon From: dave@ratmandu.esd.sgi.com (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe) Subject: TV NEWS: The More You Watch, The Less You Know Message-ID: <1992Sep9.192637.19689@mont.cs.missouri.edu> Followup-To: alt.activism.d Summary: "us" VS "them" mentality, the toxic nature of official ideology Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Keywords: drug, passivity, isolation, confusion, addiction, and alienation Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 19:26:37 GMT Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Lines: 318 . . . As is the case with computers, TV technology is more efficient and more effective as an instrument of centralized control than it is for any other use. The factors that conspire to create this inevitable condition include TV's incredible reach into every home in the country, and someday, every home in the world, combined with the power of the imagery it places in our brains. In addition, in more individual terms, it encourages passivity, isolation, confusion, addiction, and alienation; it homogenizes values and shuts out alternative visions. Television is uniquely suited to implant and continuously reinforce dominant ideologies. And, while it hones our minds, it also accelerates our nervous systems into a form that matches the technological reality that is upon us. Television effectively produces a new form of human being--less creative, less able to make subtle distinctions, speedier, and more interested in *things*--albeit better able to handle, appreciate, and approve of the new technological world. High-speed computers, faxes, lasers, satellites, robotics, high-tech war, space travel, and the further suppression of nature are more palatable and desirable for us because of our involvment with TV. The ultimate result, in high-tech terms, is that television redesigns us to be compatible with the future. -- "In The Absence Of The Sacred, The Failure Of Technology And The Survival Of The Indian Nations," by Jerry Mander, Sierra Club Books, 1991, pp. 95-96. From: Hiram Clawson <hiramc@sco.COM> Subject: TV NEWS: The More You Watch, The Less You Know Date: Wed, 2 Sep 92 10:18:41 PDT I noticed the recent mention of Television. I've heard, but not yet read, there is a good book on the subject by Jerry Mander: "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television." I recently finished Mander's "In The Absence Of The Sacred" which is certainly a thought provoking book questioning the whole direction of technological society. I posted the following in some local news groups here recently. I forward to add to the Television debate: As the [sanny cruz] Food Bin marquee recently stated: "Your TV is lying to you." A recent survey of TV news watchers' knowledge of events shows a large gap in reality. Our good friend, Ron Record, says "Heal Your TV" instead of "Kill Your TV". I appreciate the non violent attitude expressed by Ron, and it appears that, to effectively "Heal Your TV" you are going to have to turn the damned thing off and open your eyes to the real world. Read a book once in a while, for goodness sakes! I think it was Ben Franklin who said: "One who doesn't read, is no better off than one who can't read." We often hear the lament these days that the government is failing and the lack of choices at the polls is a dismal statement on the state of our society. However it is not surprising that the U.S. electorate continues to vote for idiots and vote the opposite of their legitimate interests. The voting public is consistently lied to and misled by the prime media outlets. I know it is hard work, but to correct the record you are personally going to have to take responsibility and talk back to the media. When you see a story in the newspaper or on TV News that is misleading, pick up the phone or the pen, call the news director, write to the editor, write to the journalist and demand the facts be presented properly. The TV stations' phone numbers are in the book, ask for the news director. No one else is going to do this job for you. The future rests in your hands. --Hiram [*~ Hiram Clawson - Member, Technical Staff, The Santa Cruz Operation ~*] [*~ P.O. Box 1900, Santa Cruz, CA 95061 - tel. 408-427-7519 ~*] [*~ FAX: 408-458-0811, Electronic mail: uunet!sco!hiramc or hiramc@sco.COM ~*] POLL: 1. Which income group pays the highest percentage of their income in state and local taxes? [Highest income, Middle income, Lowest income] 2. The U.S. and other industrialized countries give aid to countries throughout Africa, and they receive money back through debt and interest payments. What would you estimate the ratio of money given to money received to be ? [20-1, 10-1, 5-1, 1-1, 1-5, 1-10, 1-20] 3. What proportion of the federal budget is allocated to foreign aid ? [% 50, % 30, % 10, % 3, < % 1] 4. What percentage of the unemployed receive unemployment benefits from the government ? [% 100, % 80, % 60, % 40, % 20] 5. Since the early 1970's, this percentage of unemployed receiving benefits has [increased, stayed the same, decreased]. 6. The Bush administration has [increased, maintained, decreased] the amount of wetlands under government protection. 7. The Bush administration has [led, cooperated with, lagged behind] international efforts to cut ozone depleting gases. 8. Following the Gulf [Golf] War, [democracy, the monarchy] has been restored to Kuwait. 9. The Bush administration responded to the killing of the Jesuits in El Salvador by urging Congress to [cut, continue, increase] economic aid to the government of El Salvador until the murderers were brought to justice. 10. Following China's crackdown on pro-democracy protests, the Bush administration urged Congress to [impose sanctions against, continue most favored nation trading status with] China. 11. In 1975, which country brutally invaded East Timor, and has occupied it ever since ? [China, North Korea, Indonesia, Soviet Union, Vietnam] 12. Compared to the Somoza regime, the Sandinista government of Nicaragua had a [better, same, worse] record of human rights violations. 13. The United Nations has repeatedly condemned [the Palestinians, Israel] for occupying other people's land. 14. People who obtain their news [mostly, seldom] from television news [rarely, often] understand what is going on in the world. ------ from pages 16-17, EXTRA! September 1992, Vol. 5, No. 6 TV NEWS: The More You Watch, The Less You Know What Do We Learn From the News ? More Myths Than Facts, Survey Suggests By Justin Lewis Pollsters sometimes try to measure news media quality by asking the members of the public whether they feel it is accurate and unbiased. One might more reliably determine the quality of news by measuring what people have learned from it. Since news media are often the public's main source of information about politics and current affairs, a well-informed public may be taken as a sign that the media are doing a good job. As part of an ongoing study on news, public knowledge and public opinion, the Center for the Study of Communication (U-Mass/Amherst) conducted a survey of 550 university students in spring 1992. We wanted to see what information people knew, and to explore whether this information reflected an ideological bias. Since TV is the most important source of news for most Americans, we divided our sample into "heavy," "medium" and "light" viewers of TV news to see whether regularly watching TV news increased awareness of politics and society. Our survey indicated a striking lack of knowledge on the part of college students. Facts that support an independent or critical perspective were often not known, and misconceptions that encourage a politically conservative or establishment view of the world were common. Media Themes Some questions were asked to test whether what seemed to be frequent media themes had affected the way people perceive the world. One story that has been repeatedly told by the news media recently is the plight of the middle class, which has supposedly become the victim of an economic system that gives tax breaks to the rich and handouts to the poor. When we asked, "Which income group pays the highest percentage of their income in state and local taxes?" 70 percent said the middle 20 percent; only 14 percent gave the correct answer, the poorest 20 percent ("Citizens for Tax Justice News," 4/22/91). Another frequent media theme is that the U.S. goes out of its way to help other countries. We asked: "The U.S. and other industrialized countries give aid to countries throughout Africa, and they receive money back through debt and interest payments. What would you estimate the ratio of money given to money received to be?" Only 12 percent knew that Africa pays out more than it gets back. The great majority assumed that the burden was on the richer countries like the U.S. - 45 percent actually estimated that industrialized nations give out 20 times more than they receive back. Foreign development aid is a tiny blip in the federal expenditure, yet nearly 1 in 5 of our college-student sample said it absorbed more of the federal budget than any other item, including the military. Many of the misleading assumptions made by our respondents fit into a pattern of conservative beliefs about economy and society. A majority of respondents greatly overestimated the benefits that African Americans had gotten from affirmative action, and there was a widespread assumption that government social programs are distinctly more generous than they actually are. Since the mid-'70s, the percentage of unemployed people receiving benefits has declined from a high of more than 70 percent to less than 40 percent (Dollars & Sense, 6/91). Yet more people assumed a large increase in the percentage enjoying benefits (44 percent) than assumed a big decrease (36 percent). Twelve percent actually think the federal government spends more money on welfare than on anything else. The Bush Record One responsibility of the press is to inform the public about the actions of public officials. We asked questions to determine how much our sample knew about the record of President Bush. On Bush's environmental record, results were mixed. While 48 percent were aware that the Bush administration has reduced the amount of wetlands under government protection, more (50 percent) think he has maintained (19 percent) or increased (32 percent) it. Similarly, while 46 percent are aware that, under Bush, the U.S. has lagged behind other nations in cutting down on the emission of ozone depleting gases, more (49 percent) think the U.S. has either led the way or been a cooperative partner on this issue. These numbers may reflect the media's strenuous attempts to be "evenhanded" rather than accurate about Bush's record. Perhaps the most oft-repeated journalistic claim about Bush is that he is good on foreign policy and weak on domestic policy. And yet, as we discovered, people not only know very little about the president's foreign policy, they have actually endowed him with positions that run directly counter to those he holds. Despite some journalists' questioning of the kid-gloves treatment given to the Bush administration during the Gulf [Golf] War, little has been done to counteract the large doses of misinformation handed out during the war itself. Fifty-five percent have been left with the impression that "democracy has been restored to Kuwait," when actually the monarchy was restored to power. Foreign Policy Our respondents revealed widespread ignorance of the nature of U.S. foreign policy. From Cambodia to Zaire, they assumed the U.S. government had condemned groups or dictators that it had actually supported. Respondents, like the media, tended to see U.S. allies as "good guys" and official enemies as "bad guys." When asked how the Bush administration responded to the killing of the Jesuits in El Salvador, for example, most chose answers that showed the administration taking a strong pro-human rights stand: "They threatened to cut off aid if the murderers were not immediately brought to justice" (38 percent) or "They urged Congress to cut aid by 50 percent" (32 percent). The correct answer ("They urged Congress to continue aid to the Salvadoran government") was picked by only 24 percent. Our respondents used similar assumptions when asked about the Bush policy toward China following the crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Most of our respondents thought that Bush had imposed sanctions, while only 30 percent realized that China still enjoyed "most favored nation" trading status. Despite the media attention given to the crackdown, the fact that the administration actually vetoed congressional attempts to impose sanctions on China was generally unknown. We asked respondents, "In 1975, which country brutally invaded East Timor, and has occupied it ever since?" Five options were offered, four of which were Communist "bad guys" (China, North Korea, Vietnam and the Soviet Union), along with the correct answer, Indonesia, which is a capitalist ally of the U.S. Our respondents preferred every one of the "bad guy" countries over Indonesia, which came in last with 12.5 percent. While the "good guys" are exonerated, the worst is assumed of the "bad guys." Most independent experts agree that the Sandinista government's human rights record in Nicaragua was an improvement over the Somoza regime it replaced. Yet more than two-thirds of respondents said that the human rights situation deteriorated when the Sandinistas took over. Similarly, more respondents (31 percent) thought that the Palestinians had been repeatedly condemned by the UN for occupying other people's land than thought that Israel had been so condemned (27 percent). It is not that the media have ignored or covered up Israel's occupation, but they have downplayed Israel's isolation on this issue, while at the same time tending to portray the Palestinians as the "bad guys" in the conflict. Since the answer seems to call for a "bad guy," these trends in coverage combine to make the topsy turvy answer seem more reasonable. More News Is Bad News Our general argument would suggest that watching more TV news would decrease knowledge of facts that do not fit in with the mainstream ideologies and mythologies. We were not, therefore, surprised to find that heavy TV news viewers were often less well informed than light TV news viewers. As compared to medium and light viewers, heavy viewers were four times less likely to know that Indonesia is occupying East Timor, five times less likely to know that the Sandinistas' human rights record was an improvement over the Somozas' and two times less likely to assume that much more money flows from Africa to the West rather than the other way around. Such correlations do not, on their own, prove cause and effect - people who watch less TV news, for example may be much more likely to do other things that would make them more knowledgeable (such as heavy reading). Nevertheless, our research does suggest a pattern of ideological bias, where those facts that might lead people to critique establishment or conservative positions are generally downplayed or excluded. (C) Copyright 1992 Justin Lewis Justin Lewis is the director of the Center for the Study of Communication and an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Kristen Zirkel assisted with this research. --End EXTRA! quote-- -- I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. --- Abraham Lincoln (quoted in Jack London's "The Iron Heel").