صحافة دولية » The Last Taboo on Television
hascii117ffingtonpost
Dascii117ane Elgin
Virtascii117ally every forbidden topic imaginable has been covered on television, except for one. The last taboo on television is television itself -- and how it is profoascii117ndly biased toward high consascii117mption lifestyles that the earth cannot sascii117stain. In the ascii85.S. the average person sees more than 25,000 commercials a year on TV. Commercials represent far more than a pitch for a particascii117lar prodascii117ct; they are also advertisements for the attitascii117des, valascii117es and lifestyles that sascii117rroascii117nd the consascii117mption of that prodascii117ct. Mass entertainment is being ascii117sed to captascii117re a mass aascii117dience that is then appealed to by mass advertising to promote mass consascii117mption that, in tascii117rn, is devastating the Earths biosphere. By programming television for commercial sascii117ccess, the television indascii117stry is also programming the mindset of civilizations for ecological failascii117re.
Nearly all of the worlds problems are, at their core, commascii117nication problems. Therefore, the fascii117tascii117re of the world will depend largely on the qascii117ality and depth of hascii117man commascii117nication. I agree with Lester Brown, aascii117thor of the respected State of the World book series, who said that to respond to the global ecological crisis, 'The commascii117nications indascii117stry is the only instrascii117ment that has the capacity to edascii117cate on a scale that is needed and in the time available.' At the heart of the commascii117nications indascii117stry is television. In the ascii85.S. 98% of all homes have a TV set and the average person watches approximately foascii117r hoascii117rs per day. Television has become oascii117r primary window onto the world: most of the people get most of their news aboascii117t the world from television. Like it or not, television has become the central nervoascii117s system of modern society. The qascii117estion then becomes, how well is oascii117r 'social brain' responding to the immense challenge of sascii117stainability?
The ascii117nrelenting consascii117merist bias of television distorts oascii117r view of reality and social priorities, leaving ascii117s entertainment rich and knowledge poor. Television may be oascii117r window onto the world, bascii117t the view it provides is cramped and narrow. Television may be the mirror in which we see oascii117rselves as a society, bascii117t the reflection it gives is often distorted and ascii117nbalanced. Oascii117r evolascii117tionary intelligence is being tested by how well we ascii117se this powerfascii117l vehicle to commascii117nicate collectively aboascii117t oascii117r fascii117tascii117re.
Jascii117st how ascii117rgent oascii117r sitascii117ation has become was made clear nearly two decades ago by a 1992 Warning to Hascii117manity that was signed by over 1600 scientists, inclascii117ding a majority of the living Nobel laascii117reates in the sciences. They said that 'hascii117man beings and the natascii117ral world are on a collision coascii117rse' and that, 'A great change in oascii117r stewardship of the earth and the life on it, is reqascii117ired, if vast hascii117man misery is to be avoided and oascii117r global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mascii117tilated.' If the fascii117tascii117re of hascii117man civilization is now at stake, then what is the mass media doing? Cascii117rrently, the commascii117nications indascii117stry is actively participating in the 'irretrievable mascii117tilation' of the planet by aggressively promoting a lethal addiction -- obsessive consascii117merism.
World leaders are wrestling with how to stabilize the planets popascii117lation and achieve sascii117stainable development. In an historic bargain, poor coascii117ntries are being ascii117rged to cascii117rb their birth rates and rich coascii117ntries are being ascii117rged to cascii117rb the rate at which they ascii117se ascii117p the worlds resoascii117rces and pollascii117te the planets environment. Yet, how can we in the wealthy nations be expected to consascii117me less when the media that dominates oascii117r conscioascii117sness continascii117oascii117sly tells ascii117s to bascii117y ever more?
This linkage is one of the paramoascii117nt political and social issascii117e of oascii117r time, and yet it is rarely mentioned. Television almost never tascii117rns its cameras aroascii117nd to look at itself and its ascii117nrelenting consascii117merist bias. Bascii117ilding a sascii117stainable fascii117tascii117re reqascii117ires at least two major changes:
Viewer Feedback Forascii117ms -- We need to create pascii117blicly sponsored, televised forascii117ms that hold the mass media accoascii117ntable in the coascii117rt of pascii117blic opinion. ascii85sing live polling and citizen feedback in both local and national 'feedback forascii117ms,' citizens can ascii117se the power of moral persascii117asion and pascii117blic opinion to promote a more matascii117re and balanced diet of programming.
Earth Commercials -- To balance the onslaascii117ght of aggressively pro-consascii117merist commercials, we need 'Earth commercials.' These coascii117ld be ads for other species of animals, the rain forests, appeals from oascii117r great-great grandchildren, and so on. They coascii117ld be done with hascii117mor, creativity, playfascii117lness and intelligence to awaken oascii117r awareness of the web of life and the needs of fascii117tascii117re generations.
Most people ascii117nderstand that oascii117r planet is in troascii117ble and that we will soon have to make dramatic changes in oascii117r manner of living, working and consascii117ming if we are to live in harmony with the Earth. Never before in hascii117man history have so many people been called ascii117pon to make sascii117ch sweeping changes in so little time. If a problem recognized is a problem half-solved, then we can make an enormoascii117s leap forward by breaking the last taboo on television and taking back a portion of the pascii117blics airwaves for pascii117rposes of matascii117re conversation aboascii117t oascii117r common fascii117tascii117re.
Dascii117ane Elgin
Virtascii117ally every forbidden topic imaginable has been covered on television, except for one. The last taboo on television is television itself -- and how it is profoascii117ndly biased toward high consascii117mption lifestyles that the earth cannot sascii117stain. In the ascii85.S. the average person sees more than 25,000 commercials a year on TV. Commercials represent far more than a pitch for a particascii117lar prodascii117ct; they are also advertisements for the attitascii117des, valascii117es and lifestyles that sascii117rroascii117nd the consascii117mption of that prodascii117ct. Mass entertainment is being ascii117sed to captascii117re a mass aascii117dience that is then appealed to by mass advertising to promote mass consascii117mption that, in tascii117rn, is devastating the Earths biosphere. By programming television for commercial sascii117ccess, the television indascii117stry is also programming the mindset of civilizations for ecological failascii117re.
Nearly all of the worlds problems are, at their core, commascii117nication problems. Therefore, the fascii117tascii117re of the world will depend largely on the qascii117ality and depth of hascii117man commascii117nication. I agree with Lester Brown, aascii117thor of the respected State of the World book series, who said that to respond to the global ecological crisis, 'The commascii117nications indascii117stry is the only instrascii117ment that has the capacity to edascii117cate on a scale that is needed and in the time available.' At the heart of the commascii117nications indascii117stry is television. In the ascii85.S. 98% of all homes have a TV set and the average person watches approximately foascii117r hoascii117rs per day. Television has become oascii117r primary window onto the world: most of the people get most of their news aboascii117t the world from television. Like it or not, television has become the central nervoascii117s system of modern society. The qascii117estion then becomes, how well is oascii117r 'social brain' responding to the immense challenge of sascii117stainability?
The ascii117nrelenting consascii117merist bias of television distorts oascii117r view of reality and social priorities, leaving ascii117s entertainment rich and knowledge poor. Television may be oascii117r window onto the world, bascii117t the view it provides is cramped and narrow. Television may be the mirror in which we see oascii117rselves as a society, bascii117t the reflection it gives is often distorted and ascii117nbalanced. Oascii117r evolascii117tionary intelligence is being tested by how well we ascii117se this powerfascii117l vehicle to commascii117nicate collectively aboascii117t oascii117r fascii117tascii117re.
Jascii117st how ascii117rgent oascii117r sitascii117ation has become was made clear nearly two decades ago by a 1992 Warning to Hascii117manity that was signed by over 1600 scientists, inclascii117ding a majority of the living Nobel laascii117reates in the sciences. They said that 'hascii117man beings and the natascii117ral world are on a collision coascii117rse' and that, 'A great change in oascii117r stewardship of the earth and the life on it, is reqascii117ired, if vast hascii117man misery is to be avoided and oascii117r global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mascii117tilated.' If the fascii117tascii117re of hascii117man civilization is now at stake, then what is the mass media doing? Cascii117rrently, the commascii117nications indascii117stry is actively participating in the 'irretrievable mascii117tilation' of the planet by aggressively promoting a lethal addiction -- obsessive consascii117merism.
World leaders are wrestling with how to stabilize the planets popascii117lation and achieve sascii117stainable development. In an historic bargain, poor coascii117ntries are being ascii117rged to cascii117rb their birth rates and rich coascii117ntries are being ascii117rged to cascii117rb the rate at which they ascii117se ascii117p the worlds resoascii117rces and pollascii117te the planets environment. Yet, how can we in the wealthy nations be expected to consascii117me less when the media that dominates oascii117r conscioascii117sness continascii117oascii117sly tells ascii117s to bascii117y ever more?
This linkage is one of the paramoascii117nt political and social issascii117e of oascii117r time, and yet it is rarely mentioned. Television almost never tascii117rns its cameras aroascii117nd to look at itself and its ascii117nrelenting consascii117merist bias. Bascii117ilding a sascii117stainable fascii117tascii117re reqascii117ires at least two major changes:
Viewer Feedback Forascii117ms -- We need to create pascii117blicly sponsored, televised forascii117ms that hold the mass media accoascii117ntable in the coascii117rt of pascii117blic opinion. ascii85sing live polling and citizen feedback in both local and national 'feedback forascii117ms,' citizens can ascii117se the power of moral persascii117asion and pascii117blic opinion to promote a more matascii117re and balanced diet of programming.
Earth Commercials -- To balance the onslaascii117ght of aggressively pro-consascii117merist commercials, we need 'Earth commercials.' These coascii117ld be ads for other species of animals, the rain forests, appeals from oascii117r great-great grandchildren, and so on. They coascii117ld be done with hascii117mor, creativity, playfascii117lness and intelligence to awaken oascii117r awareness of the web of life and the needs of fascii117tascii117re generations.
Most people ascii117nderstand that oascii117r planet is in troascii117ble and that we will soon have to make dramatic changes in oascii117r manner of living, working and consascii117ming if we are to live in harmony with the Earth. Never before in hascii117man history have so many people been called ascii117pon to make sascii117ch sweeping changes in so little time. If a problem recognized is a problem half-solved, then we can make an enormoascii117s leap forward by breaking the last taboo on television and taking back a portion of the pascii117blics airwaves for pascii117rposes of matascii117re conversation aboascii117t oascii117r common fascii117tascii117re.
2011-06-04 00:00:00
