Next Program:  Thursday, March 19th - 7:45 am

First Presbyterian Church - $8.00

Panel Discussion: 

The News Media and Society: Professional, Christian, and Ethical Perspectives

Contact Nancy Putnam at 681-3696.

More than any other time in history, we are bombarded with information from multiple media.  We base our opinions, decisions, and actions upon our beliefs and information provided by news organizations.  The reliability of this information is no greater than the responsibility of the leaders of these organizations and the competence of its staff.  News organizations have their standards and professional codes, but the practice of journalism is totally self-regulatory.  The 1st amendment is given a very broad interpretation in allowing for freedom of the press.  Unless one can prove harm done by libel or slander, little restriction is applied.  Consumer acceptance and quarterly profits drive the news industry.  The challenge to serve the public interest is greatly overridden by the drive to make a profit, in other words to “publish whatever sells.”

As Christians we look to the responsibilities we have according to the Judeo-Christian writings on righteousness and integrity.  Jesus asks his followers to choose righteousness and goodness for a responsible moral life.  His righteousness is manifested by inward dispositions of the heart and moral actions.  Integrity as a core virtue embodies a many-faceted combination of character traits.  Honesty, humility, authenticity, truthfulness, promise-keeping, and sincerity are aspects of integrity that Jesus referred to in his teachings and parables.

Let us look at some of the problems of the media as documented by the researchers, academicians, and journalists.  (http:dailysource.org/about/problems):

1. High levels of inaccuracies; mistakes regularly left uncorrected.

2. Sensationalism..

3. Change in priorities given to subjects such as the shift from government, environmental, and social issues to stories about celebrities (an increase of over 300% in 20 years); poor coverage to important issues such as religion, poverty.

4. The cyclical nature of reporting on important issues.

5. Lack of the media in regulating itself.

6. Media consolidation, focus on profit margins, not serving the public, and investing less in the quality of what they do.

7. The public is uniformed, misinformed, and not sufficiently educated.

8. Overemphasize differences, issues, and problems of little consequence.

9. Others

            What responsibility do we have as citizens and Christians to be responsible in holding the media to a higher standard and in our use of information gleaned from the media?  What can we do as individuals to access more reliable and essential information? In general, how can we better influence our media to help our society?

Mel Witmer of the MOC will act as moderator and Joe Distelheim will represent the industry.  Joe is a retired newspaper reporter and editor.  Over a 38-year-career, he was a reporter and editor at five newspapers in Delaware, North Carolina, Michigan and Alabama.