CURRENTLY IN TELEVISION

The tale of two worlds

Bill Strom

While millions tuned in for a laugh, others must have wrung their hands, for over the course of the series the US Coast Guard received at least a dozen letters from viewers concerned that these poor people were stranded. Some suggested that the navy send a destroyer to the rescue.

Most of us shake our heads in disbelief--how could people be so dense? Weren't they able to distinguish drama from news, fiction from fact? The answer, in part, is that some viewers regard television to be simply a large spotlight that highlights various parts of reality. After all, seeing is believing, and TV allows us to see things in Technicolor.

The temptation to regard TV programs as "the way things are" is very strong--especially with news. It's easy to believe that what the news executives bring us is representative of the world's condition. Recall Walter Cronkite's famous closing line for years? "And that's the way it is."

Recently the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, did a study of TV news stories. The Center counted every news item on the evening news broadcasts for a year and then categorized them by type. Of the 18,000 stories aired, only 249 concerned religion. That's about 1.5%. Moreover, most of these stories cast religion in a negative light--Catholic dissidents who left the faith, abortion clinic violence and the "extreme religious right" earned more air time than faith and church-affirming stories.

Why the lopsided coverage? The reason is this: Television is not a neutral medium that simply highlights various aspects of the world around us. Television is a group of executives and advertising agents whose primary goal is to attract viewers so they can make a buck. Whether it be Gilligan's Island or CBC News, television shows are primarily about increasing audience share so the shows' producers can attract more advertisers and charge higher advertising fees.

This is why religious news stories get little air time. Stories about the quiet service of Mennonite women who form quilting groups would bomb on TV. The same goes for our church services, Bible study groups and programs to help strangers in need. These activities aren't flashy enough to merit attention by national news broadcasters.

But they're willing to try sometimes. For example, when Greenpeace activists want to make a statement against nuclear arms, they call local television stations and cue the news crews as to their whereabouts, activities and schedule. The crews and a handful of Greenpeacers show up together to make news. Bold Christian leaders might consider the same approach. Have the TV stations been notified about peace festivals? About cyclathons for charity? About your MCC sale? About your youth doing radical acts of kindness? While some readers might feel uneasy about drawing attention to good works, my response is that unless we are in the face of the news-choosers, they will ignore us most the time.

Bill Strom is an associate professor of communications at Trinity Western University and a member of East Aldergrove MB Church.