Why I've Stopped Watching the 11 O'Clock News"

Last summer I stopped watching the 11 o'clock news — on any channel. In years gone by I was a devotee of Channel 2's evening effort. That's when Connie Chung, Marcia Brandywine, Maclovio Perez and Jim Hill handled the newscast. Few of my friends around the country could believe that a major TV market would turn its 11:00 news over to not one but two women anchors, an Hispanic weatherman and a black sportscaster.

Actually I was rather proud that the then KNXT — under Van Gordon Sauter, I believe — had the guts to put that news team together — not because they were singularly unique — not one white male among them — but because they were GOOD. I got hooked on the news that year and faithfully watched it nearly every night.

But no more. Whatever happens in the world tonight will just have to reach me in the morning through National Public Radio and the L.A. Times. Granted these two channels have their own limitations but at least I can feel confident that I'll be fairly well informed on the surface facts of each day's national and local events. I don't seem to be getting that surety anymore at 11 p.m. when the lead story is an exclusive interview with the star of the TV movie that just ended at 10:59.

I'm revealing this bit of personal information not so much because I want to lambaste the dreadful decline of television news — not only in Los Angeles but almost everywhere — but rather because I want to underscore what I think is a very important concept for conferences like this to recognize: the task of Jiminy Cricket. And I want to thank Felix for so skillfully outlining the Jiminy Cricket metaphor as the voice of conscience — values — not only for the news media but indeed for all of mass media.

What I remember most about Jiminy Cricket is not that he had all the answers — or that he was a nag, but that he simply reflected back to Pinocchio the implications of his actions and behavior. He helped Pinocchio to see more clearly the reality of his experience. Seeing that, Pinocchio changed his own behavior.

What Jiminy Cricket did is what today, Ivan Ilytch and educators from South America and other Third World countries would call the "circle of praxis." In this circle, which is really an upward spiral, are four moments in the evolution of a person's consciousness:

• awareness
• analysis
• reflection
• and action.

In Brazil for example, or perhaps most recently in the Philippines, whether on is learning to read a labor contract, organizing a community for better housing or responding to a fraudulent national election, the questions are basically the same:

First, begin at the beginning: What I know best, my experience, my world, whether large or small. Begin with that and then ask:

• Awareness: What's happening here? What's going on? What are the facts of the situation?
• Analysis: Putting 2 and 2 together...looking at a situation for:
  • the political background?
  • the economic connections?
  • the cultural
  • social
  • historical
  • legal background...and ramifications.

After making these connections, it's time for:

• Reflection: What ought to be happening? What is right and just — and fair — in this situation?

  In doing theological or ethical reflection, it's important to remember those who have gone before us and the traditions that have developed civilizations over the centuries:

  • the wisdom of our elders?
  • the ethical imperative?
  • human courtesy and civility?
  • religious tradition and Scripture?

  Of course we must also keep in mind that these traditions can also be co-opted — for example, patriarchy has led to sexism in almost all religious traditions...but that's another whole conference!

Finally,

• Action: How might things be different? — And what can I (or we) do to change things?

  Social problems, as you may know, are generally not caused by people but by the failure of social systems to respond quickly enough to the changing needs of any population.

Now what does all this have to do with media or even the news? Well, I propose that the method of analysis I've just described is a method for helping us here today — as well as for gathering of concerned people in church basements or community centers or school auditoriums everywhere. It's a method to help us cope with the issues facing us in our increasingly mediated society.

It is indeed the method underlying the editorial philosophy and direction for Media&Values magazine. It may not be obvious to the casual reader who flips through it in 30 seconds but on a closer examination you'll see how each article is crafted and placed to take the reader alone or as part of a group around the circle of praxis on a specific problem in today's media experience:

• Sexual violence in the media
• The role of rock music in the lives of the young
• How media has affected sports and leisure
• The growing amount of militarism in the media
• Even fairness in the news!

The point is to help our readers, and through them the families and young people they influence:

• To become AWARE of the media in their lives;
• To ANALYZE as thoroughly as possible this influence;
• To REFLECT deeply on what is right, what is fair, what is just;
• And to DO something positive — at least personally and perhaps collectively.

Like the Jiminy Cricket analogy, this method operates on both a macro and micro level. With a micro lens, I can learn to focus on my OWN experience: thus my initial story about the 11:00 news:

• I became AWARE that the 11 o'clock news was frustrating my need for substantive information about current events.
• I began to ANALYZE what had changed and why:
  • more stories about Hollywood
  • less about the real world
  • more features
  • less facts

(Now I did this myself but obviously leading individuals or groups in this kind of analysis is the function of teachers, religious leaders, social workers — and in some ways, even magazines!)

I REFLECTED — what ought to be happening?

I'm not going to go proof-texting to find some obscure Scripture verse to justify my position or motivate my search with an easy bromide. That's not what theological or ethical reflection is all about. As an intelligent woman, I don't need a Scripture verse to tell me that

• when people are dying in El Salvador or Ethiopia,
• when 50% of minority youngsters can't find employment except as drug runners,
• when indeed the very nature of my city is changing in dramatic ways as Felix noted for us, I'm certain that my local TV news should not waste 4 of its precious 23 minutes for the latest in a 5-part series on women's lingerie.

Finally, I ACTED. I made a conscious choice to avoid the 11 pm news whenever possible. It only makes me mad. But at the same time I made several other conscious choices

• To watch MacNeil-Lehrer whenever possible,
• To set my clock radio to NPR's Morning Edition,
• And to subscribe to In These Times as well as the L.A. Times.

Now the method also works on the macro level, say when a number of people — a class, a conference like this, an ongoing study group in a church or synagogue — pool their collective experiences and use the method to plan constructive change in their neighborhood, community or city. As we've seen in Latin America, analyzing community experience in such a fashion can lead to revolution!

Well, perhaps what is needed in our mediated society is a new media revolution. We already have a technological revolution underway — symbolized by the pin I'm wearing on my lapel — it's a working model of a computer circuit that demonstrates the miniaturization of technology. What we need now in the 1980's is a revolution in media consciousness and media awareness.

The very fact that we're holding this conference today tells me that to thoughtful people, mass media is as much an issue of justice in our society as housing, health, civil rights or even nuclear disarmament. Like those other issues, there is no quick-fix band-aid solutions. What is needed is a method of analysis that leads ultimately to change — individually, collectively, socially.

I believe that what we have heard this morning begins our awareness and analysis. What we need this afternoon is reflection and action.