blogger profile

Rhi Bowman

Student/ Writer

Rhi (pronounced Ree) B. is short for Rhiannon Bowman. Rhi B. is me. I’m a young woman– a newly wed, mother of two spoiled rotten cats and student– working hard to get out of college and on with the business of freelance writing. Trading money for words is a lifelong dream. After allowing...

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Finger Waggers

Rhi B., rhibowman.wordpress.com

A couple people in my life love to forward heavily slanted Conservative propaganda to me daily via e-mail. Today the offending correspondence was a YouTube clip from a CNN show hosted by Conservative Glenn Beck about a truly wonderful woman who came in behind Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The clip accompanied the question*, “Why doesn’t the media cover this type of stuff?”

The first thing to note is this:

There are more Conservative radio and television shows than there are Liberal radio and television shows.

It is believed this phenomenon occurs because: a) the word “Liberal” is now seen as derogatory, b) Conservatives put on a better show—i.e. more anger and drama a la hosts like Bill O’Reilly who point, make threats and demand for guests to “shut up”—and c) Liberals tend to be more mild mannered on-air and, thus, boring on radio and television.

Yes, there are decidedly more Democrat-journalists but they try so hard to not incorporate bias into their work they may actually slant things toward the Right. Meanwhile, Conservative shows—some, not all—feel it is reasonable to trample journalistic standards and ethics in the name of ratings (i.e. advertising dollars) or because of pushy, agenda-focused editors and owners.

Don’t believe me? Check out the documentary OutFoxed.

The second thing to note:

Is the World War II hero in question, Irena Sendler, deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize? Absolutely. Is it a shame she died before she received the award? Positively.

Therefore, with that in mind, a better question to ask is this:

Why wasn't Irena Sendler awarded the Nobel Prize long before now and why weren't there movies and books and parades in her honor decades ago?

Glenn Beck could have reported on Irena Sendler at any point in time during his long career in print, radio and television—but even he did not consider her story news until she died and he could take a jab at Al Gore because he won the Nobel Peace prize and she did not.

It bothers me that this particular media segment made it seem as if Al Gore's award is less worthy because this magnificent woman came in second and died not long after. I do not think many would deny both Irena and Al are worthy recipients-- but not everyone can win the same award, can they? Is it Al Gore’s fault they were nominated in the same award year, or that they were nominated at all? No, it’s not.

I feel the media works hard to polarize American citizens in an "us or them" game, and I feel like it is often done with a negative tone that does not jive with either Conservative or Liberal values. For instance, let’s not forget: Conservatives and Evangelicals were some of the first environmentalists—before protecting our plant became a problem for big business.

I think what is going on, and this is a current topic in my classes, is that it is easier and less expensive for media outlets to label people than report on individuals and their personal views and stories.

Once labeled, everyone falls either into category C or category L—when the truth is there are zillions of gradients between those two extremes. But reporting from a polarized perspective injects more drama—and of course theatrics, not news, sells to most audiences.

In the end, this is about the same thing common denominator as everything else: money. The media broadcasts histrionics to build viewership, viewers lead to advertising revenue and, advertisers hope, more customers which leads to increased demands for drama to be aired by news organizations from advertising execs.

The truth is “the truth” is often in the middle.

Which makes it critical for news watchers to look to the left and the right and in the middle; recognizing at least a little bias is regular and “the truth” is likely a mix of all sides.

“The truth” is that most Americans, whether they call themselves Liberals or Conservatives or Democrats or Republicans or Independents or Libertarians or Jolly Green Giants, are far more alike than different.

What we should be doing is aiming more of our time and effort toward understanding each other versus wagging our fingers and plugging our ears. I think we will discover we are not as polarized as corporate media would have us believe and that, once we calm down and start talking, we will get a lot more accomplished.

Here is a link to the YouTube Glenn Beck segment that prompted this post, entitled Irena Sendler v. Al Gore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVw1PANUcdg

* Allow me a second-long rant: ever since I re-enrolled in college as a Communication Studies/ Mass Media/ Journalism student, everyone I know wants me to explain the American media. Fair and balanced? No; give me a break.