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Lifting Up the Airwaves

 Interesting news out of Britain, as the BBC Trust issues new guidelines banning editorial content that defames human dignity. Although the move seems to confront the American ideal for freedom of speech, their efforts demonstrate the role that media leaders have in shaping public perception. If successful, advocates for human rights could leverage similar action in the U.s., in hopes to help frame positive values based messaging over American airwaves. It might seam dreamlike, but Hollywood is where dreams breathe life.

An expatriated journalist--vetted during the 1990s, when the craft of communicating embarked on its greatest transition since the invention of the printing press--I consider myself a strong advocate for the freedom of information. what I do promote, however, is a restructuring of how American broadcast media operates, a medium of mass communication that has always been seen as public property and, therefore, subject to editorial guidelines. Yet, in the spirit of selling the airwaves to the highest bidders, the public's best interest has been compromised by advertising revenues.

Long before the housing market was sold to Wall Street, changes in broadcast regulations were made to open up new revenue streams for media owners. During the 1980s, the FCC deregulated its restrictions on talk programming, opening the door for voices like Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy. Following the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a major push by the, then, newly ordained neoconservative Congress, ownership rules were greatly relaxed, with the majority of locally owned broadcast stations around the country falling into the ownership of a few mega-media moguls like Mel Karmazin of CBS-Infinity, who held the reigns on up-and-coming shock-jock Howard stern. The demise of locally owned and operated media outlets resulted in the sharp decline of locally produced public affairs programming, what was the last voice left for many American communities. Even the deregulation of how public broadcasting groups could air underwriting spots, after public broadcasting's budget was cut by Congress during the 1990s, forced public broadcasters to adopt a more mainstream model of programing, creating grey lines between underwriting and commercial advertising, while at the same time feeling the strain of competition for audiences.

All of this goes to say that broadcast programming in our country has been dictated by the advertising revenues from Madison Ave.. And in its quest for profit, it has taken the path of least resistance, relying on the human response of fear as a primary tool in keeping viewers and listeners glued to their boxes. This in turn has lifted up one of the dominant forces that drive conservative rhetoric, making it more difficult for progressive ideals to share the same landscape. 

There's no question that American broadcast media is a dominant force in promoting values that go against progressive ideals. The whole culture of the news industry has lived on a mantra of "If it bleeds, it leads" for decades. This hallmark of American broadcasting survives by promoting fear, a human psychological mechanism guaranteed to keep audiences on the edge of their seat during the commercial break, the terra sancta of broadcasting. Understanding how this same human mechanism remains a driving force in rooting hardline conservative ideology--that which detours progress by fear of the unknown--it is easy to see how broadcast media has become such a fertile ground for anti-progressive rhetoric. At the core exists a market paradigm that is built upon the promulgation of fear. And on the invisible skin that radiates through the airwaves are voices like Glen Beck, Lou Dobbs, and a genre of reality-based programming that feeds not so much on the success of winners, but on the exploitation of losers.

American broadcast media remains one of the strongest influencers in American culture. Therefore, if we really want to see progressive change that is long-lasting, then we'll need to reinvest in opportunity over the airwaves. What we need is bold leadership for a media culture that promotes progress, is rooted in hope, not fear, and lifts up the dignity of all human beings. This has long been part of the mission for public trusts and foundations in our country like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or the Pacifica Foundation, and there needs to be greater investment in such trusts that provide alternative and diverse views. though we shouldn't stop there, as public broadcasting still occupies a small percentage of our airwaves and over cable. Those who utilize public airwaves need incentives to increase the time public affairs programing shares with commercial programming. And local advocacy groups need investment that allows them to produce content that can be aired during time slots that broadcasters must set aside for this public affairs programming.

Investing in our public media is one of the strongest ways that we can harness tools used to  expand opportunity to a mass audience. Giving a voice to the voiceless, and reaffirming a culture that embraces diversity, is a sure way to shift public attitudes toward progressive ideals. And in doing so, we return the public airwaves back to the people who own them, not simply to a few who control them.

Thousands of stories

seven years of Journalism school (undergrad and graduate), and not once was I required to take an ethics class. It wasn't until I ran off to do the monk thing that I engaged myself with ethics and philosophical pursuits. And, thinking back to Fr. Sebastian's introduction to ethics, I'm still trying to practice the virtue of not exploding spontaneously after Couric's feature on immigration.

Having worked behind the scenes in broadcast news, it's interesting how little of the editorial decisions that producers make ever transcend into the audiences perception. Their decisions are subtle, the kind of things that most people don't even notice. But don't be mistaken, the stories and interviews chosen go through a hard lens several times before they hit the airwaves. For every interview you see, there's probably ten other that got deleted on the desk top during the editing and news gathering stage.

Harping the point at the end of the previous post, it's a shame that producers and managing editors ignore true heart felt stories. Thank goodness for groups like the Movement Vision Lab, striving to make sure that the stories of real humanity are told; not stories of hard-lined rhetoric, but stories that can move us toward a stronger, more solid community that affords opportunity for all.

Check out their recent pos that tells the story of one New American striving to make our country and world a better place.

Couric Crosses the Line

Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor, has begun a series on immigration issues, taking a hard anti-immigrant slant. The Evening News feature, titled: Illegal immigrant births at your expense, looks at undocumented immigrant mothers who give birth in the U.S., thus making their new born children American citizens.

The feature offered no counter balance on why women would choose to have their children born in the United States, if they have a choice at all. It's interesting that the reporter offered little expert advice, asking questions that create a bias view against immigrants to interviewees who have very little ethos in giving any real authoritative answer. Too, the logic behind the Texas congressman, who is looking to abolish the 14th Amendment, frightens me. It makes the U.S. sound almost authoritarian on who can and can't be a U.S. citizen. We might as well take down the Statue of Liberty and sell its guts for scrap metal.

It's sad that Couric now seems to be fighting for Lou Dobbs' audience. CBS has historically saught older viewers. But I thought part of her placement was to bring in a younger audience during a time when the major networks were all going through nightly news turnover. I had such great hopes for Couric during the weeks leading up to her first CBS show. But now, I feel as though she's crossed a line of journalistic integrity, leaning toward the editorial likings of conservative hard liners, than representing a voice for liberty and equality.

From a values standing, the broadcast media remains a messaging machine that rides over the "Peoples airwaves. Unlike print media, which covers such a wide range of editorial messages, there should be an obligation for broadcast journalism to uphold the community values of our country. In couric's case, the goal is, obviously, intended to divide middle-of-the-road Americans against the millions of immigrants who come here looking for a beter life.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of this series plays out. This feature was edited to make it seem like women came here for the soul purpose of giving birth to their children on U.S. soil. It didn't dare to dive deeper into the hardships that billions--not millions, but billions--face each day, and focus on the dangerous journey for opportunity that only a small percentage of these billions of humans risk taking. The chances are good that children born in many countries outside the U.s. have a greater chance of dying.

Feel free to visit CBS Evening News and post comments letting Couric know that she should tell the rest of the story.

Keeping the Faith

Since the monotheistic beliefs associated with Abraham (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) began to move beyond the fertile lands around the Jordan River, the moral values tied to communities began to weave its way into the fabric of faith and spirituality. Houses of worship have long been community centers; the ancient Greek word describing church, itself, simply referring to a gathering place (Ekklesia).

In modern times, religious leaders have often been the strongest proponents for community values. Liberation Theology, a powerful Christian theology which puts a particular emphasis on the community, has integrated a social will for the common good in many faiths around the world. Rev. James Cone, the founder of Black Liberation Theology, said recently that the focus was not on the individual, but on the larger faith community. In a recent fresh Air broadcast from Monday, March 31, Dr. Cone spelled out the theology as being more than a characteristic of its members, but an obligation, a need for justice to be enacted.

Cone, who was greatly influenced by Dr. King Jr., offers one view of how faith and community are closely tied together. this tethering between believers and beliefs moves such values as redemption and, security and equality into the mainstream by its active practice in Western society. The roles that churches and other houses of worship play are important in American culture, as they can enable a great number of Americans and move them ultimately to action on social issues. We've seen this during election years when ministers call on their congregations to take certain factors, such as abortion or marriage, to their hearts when entering the poles. In many ways, these pastoral pleas isolate communities, rather than bring them together. And it is a shame that the media focuses on these leaders as examples on how faith influences the community.

Obama's recent speech on race, given in Philadelphia last month, opened many doors for religious leaders to focus their efforts on rhetoric that doesn't destroy, but brings communities together. After being pushed to respond on the bitter language of his own pastor, he reminded us of the value faith plays in modern America, and how redemption and forgiveness are crucial, seeing his own pastor as someone who says things he disagrees with, yet still sees him as a holy man and can, thus, move beyond the few sound bites and be touched on a deeper level by his pastors humanity.

Redemption is a major theme in Christian spirituality, which is why I find it so hard to understand why so many religious leaders are built to condemn those with whom they disagree. In order for communities to come together, there's going to have to be a common ground where disagreements are put to the side. And in our own broken humanity, we're going to have to learn to forgive one another whenever we fall.

Take a minute to think about some time when someone has offended you, or when someone has hurt you in an emotional or physical way. Can you forgive them? Have you forgiven them?

Now, try to think of the one thing you couldn't think you could forgive. What would have to happen in order for you to forgive them? Is there anything you can't forgive?

Now, think of the times when we, as a community, have had to forgive someone around us or a public leader. Is it easier to forgive as a group or an individual?

Communities are not just dependent on redemption. They also can be powerful avenues for forgiveness, forces that exercise justice and afford us the chance to afford others the opportunity for forgiveness.

What inherent parts of our own society foster redemption, and what parts stand in the way of it?

Just a few thoughts as we move further into a political season that seems fueled by statements that many tag as unforgivable.

Where lines cross

The northern portion of Manhattan Island is a unique part of New York City. Where most maps end at 125th Street, Harlem, there remains a whole 99 blocks of walk-up tenements and six story apartment buildings as far as the eye can see. And in this sea of densely populated forest of concrete and brick, streets begin to lose that unique New York numbered grid that most people think of when traveling to Manhattan. Lines on maps intersect. And at their cross-roads, neighborhoods are fused together by diverse ethnicity and race.

Inwood, to the furthest north on the island, has the lingering aftertaste of an old Irish neighborhood, now almost completely Dominican, while on its eastern edge are the Dyckman Homes, a public housing project where basketball great Karim Abdul Jabar started playing hoops.

To the south of Inwood is Washington Heights, one of New York's historic Jewish neighborhoods, while home of Mother Francis Cabrini's remains, a popular Italian American Catholic saint, and also the neighborhood where Malcolm X was assassinated.

These neighborhoods are a classic example of both the achievements and the obstacles that have lined the pathway of American opportunity. I was reminded of this yesterday evening while waiting in line at a pharmacy near my apartment in Inwood. Ahead of me, a customer and employee began to get into a fight over incorrect change on an item that was returned. The tension between the two women was heightened when both exchanged disparaging remarks to one another. One person was an immigrant who had difficulty speaking english, while the other person was African American. Their insults rang throughout the store as the customer stormed out with her bag firmly clutched in her hand. And I stood next in line, shaken by the anger between the two.

The lines between racial and ethnic divide are far greater than the lines on the maps that have tried to historically identify them. Eduardo Porter, March 31 New York Times, raised several powerful observations on the difficulties faced when trying to overcome racial and ethnic divides in the United States. Porter stresses the need to find common values to overcome a reluctance that people, in general, have toward overcoming racial preference. Porters angle focused on the abandonment of community support when encountered with diversity. This is ironic, he notes, since we are all essentially immigrants in this country; some choosing to leave the security of their homes to follow their dreams, while others having their dreams destroyed, forced here not by choice but by chains. Yet, in both of these two powerful narratives, the story of American opportunity became the catalyst for families to labor in hopes of greater freedom for their children.

When lines clash, rather than intersect, the road map of our future becomes tangled in our own stubborn humanity, an unhealthy pride that fuels our ignorance and drowns our hope in opportunity for all. It's this unhealthy pride, focusing only on the "me" that keeps us from reaching "We The People."

It's going to take a community to erase the racial and ethnic lines that divide our neighborhoods. Even in neighborhoods that are diverse, there are still lines drawn. And it's not until communities can come together that opportunity for all can fully be realized. Those neighborhoods that have been able to bridge their diversity have crossed these divides. These neighborhoods, like those surrounding downtown Brooklyn or Jackson Heights queens, demonstrate the harmony that can sound out when communities come together. And it is in that harmony where great change can come about; change that can leave us not feeling like we're stuck in line with noplace to go.

Is Georgia going back to the future?

Growing up in Atlanta, I always felt removed from the southern rhetoric that was fed to most southern children, about standing firm on states rights and being proud that you were a southerner. Run across other kids from towns like Portal or Valdasta, and tell them that you were from Atlanta, and they'd look you square in the eye and call you a Yankee.

I always thought this strange, since Atlantans saw themselves as the capitol for the New south. Though I'm struggling with even telling people I grew up in Atlanta, the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I say this after reading an article from the Tifton Gazette.

Apparently, March has been Confederate memorial month in Atlanta, and on March 5th, Ga. Gov. Sonny Perdue gave a proclamation honoring a former slave, Billy Yope, who apparently served for the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

As a child, I remember there still being Confederate Memorial Day, usually sometime during the end of April. I remember it was a holiday for state workers. The last time I can remember the state having it was when I went off to middle school, grade six (I'm sure it continued afterwards, but wasn't something I found interesting). That was the year that all Georgia students had to take a Georgia History class. The class was clearly bias toward a pro confederate stance, the textbook focusing more on the issue of state's rights, while glossing over the fact that slavery was a major factor, if not the factor, for a war that almost divided and destroyed our democracy.

After reading the article, I felt like I had been dragged back in time to the sixth grade, and forced to sit through the pro-confederate propaganda. Honestly, I'm greatly concerned that there is still a movement--to see the Civil War as not a war to end slavery, but a states rights arguement--that is strong enough to have the governor make a proclamation praising a slave for serving in the Confederate Army during confederate Memorial month.

I hope the historians don't let this one slip through the cracks. Those of us born in the South who were raised to see the horror in the past need to do what we can to stop such racist rhetoric that tries to hide in sheeps clothing.

I seldom use my blog as a vehicle to vent my hostility towards such injustice. But there's a lot more at risk here than having to endure the standard routine of redneck jokes when people learn I'm from the south. I'm going to have to google Jimmy Carter now, to see if he had any comments that could calm my anxiety after reading about Gov. Perdue.

Patterson speaks opportunity and community values

Newly sworn governor of New York, David Patterson, gave a strong message of hope and opportunity in his first speech as the Chief executive for New York state. The speech, which can be downloaded on the WNYC web site, comes after the whirlwind demise and subsequent resignation of former Gov. Elliot Spitzer.

In Patterson's opening remarks, he praised the community values of his home district in Harlem. He closed by cheering the cause for opportunity to all in the state that he has now been entrusted to lead.

Patterson is the first African American Governor of New York, and the forth in U.S. history. He is also the first blind governor in the United states.

Needless to say, he is a solid listener, and I'm optimistic of the work he'll do, with the New York State legislature, who has been stalled in controversy since shortly after Spitzer's inauguration.

He hallmarked the need for community support among state leaders by having them join him in the state assembly and renew their oath of office. The symbolism reminds me of the Easter Vigil, when christians renew their baptism. It's a fitting seen for the many Christians throughout New York during this week that leads up to Easter. A large percentage of conservative New Yorkers make up this demographic. So, it will be interesting to see how Patterson succeeds in reaching across the isle once his administration gears up following Passover and Easter break.