JUST NEWS  April 2000

Office of  Justice and Peace Sowers of Justice Catholic Diocese of Richmond

Focus on Media &      Culture In this issue: Media & Values: Do They Match? Recommended Media Resource Featured Web Site ART of Justice & Peace A Pastoral Perspective Resources for Parishes Sowers of Justice News Tidewater Voices That Challenge More Media Articles Media Bulimia Turn Off the TV! TV Facts & Figures Rich Media, Poor Democracy Media Manipulation Best AIDS Resource Yet Faith-Based Community Organizing Calendar General Assembly 2000 Wrap-Up & Summary OJP Staff  Sowers of Justice Contact Information

Media & Values: Do They Match? By Liza Roach, Justice & Peace Minister  at St. Gabriel's Parish, Midlothian. When it comes to the media, there is no middle ground.  It strikes us as either a positive tool or one of destruction. Media sources tantalize audiences through its play on the weaker aspects of human nature.  Everyone experiences loneliness, desires, and love.  We all want to be financially stable and yearn for acceptance.  The media takes these human desires and exploits them.  Our office luncheon back in February centered around the show, “I Want to Marry a Multi-Millionaire!”  The show focused on 50 young, attractive women parading around pageant style in order to impress the millionaire who sat allusively behind the screen making his selection.  The show exploited many human desires -- to find love, to have money, to be beautiful, and to find acceptance.  The network romanticized the possibilities, but the show neglected to bear any real fruit!  Now you may be asking: How does this relate to Social Justice?  Media appeals to most of us because it serves as a social bond which connects us with each other in a number of superficial ways.  First, the media joins people to one another through the things we buy or possess as consumers.  Second, people share the ideas they learn uncritically from TV and other media sources.  And finally, people are driven to re-make themselves in the image & likeness of the things they see in media advertising in order to win social acceptance. These shallow ways of connection lead to many serious problems. Young girls -- wishing to be as beautiful as an actress -- binge and purge in order to meet an ideal weight.  Teenagers wear the latest trend in fashionable Nike clothing and never think about the impoverished people who make the items.  Fantasy love shows lead couples toward divorce because their marriages do not seem to be up to par.  Children who see violent programming think that they are immortal or act out that violence with others. The Church must recognize the influence of media in forming values, and combat negative social norms in order to help people express authentically Catholic values. The values that people absorb from the culture vary with the television programs they watch, the magazines they read, and the radio stations they listen to. Many of our children learn morality, not from adults or educators, but from media programs. Is it not the time to take a deeper look at how we -- parish, children, friends, and family -- are letting our values be formed through the media?  How do we as people of faith respond to this values formation by the media?  Here are some action ideas adapted from the Center for Media Literacy: Think critically about the impact & influence of mass media in society and in our individual lives (i.e., media literacy). Build a media-aware community made up of individuals who thoughtfully examine the impact of mass media in their lives. Organize a parish information & resource center  on media literacy. Promote media literacy in formal and informal educational activities with parish committees, catechists, parents, and & youth. Our challenge as church is to critique what is negative in the media & culture without looking like “bad guys.”  Values are taught best when they are expressed and practiced by adults and parents through a common faith experience.  This is our challenge as a parish and church in society today.

Recommended Resource:

Catholic Connections to Media Literacyis a multimedia learning program linking Catholic values and today's media culture. The program was developed & produced for the Catholic Communication Campaign by the Center for Media Literacy in collaboration with the National Catholic Educational Association. 

Included are a variety of teaching materials: a video, background resources on media and values, a leader's guide & accompanying handout masters, a media literacy resource directory, and Forming Values in a Media Age (a 56-page source book of ministry applications). 

Available from the Center for Media Literacy at (800) 226-9494. Complete program (Item # CCML) now at half-price for only $29.95.
 
 

Featured Web Site: Media Awareness Network  http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/ Offers resources for media education in home, school & community.  Explores ways to make the media a more positive force in the lives of children.

A Pastoral Perspective:
The Media - Ally of Adversary?
By Rev. John DeGiorgio, 
Pastor - St. Gabriel's Parish, Midlothian

Any intelligent discussion on the role of modern media in today’s life and culture engenders strong feelings from religious minded people. Include television’s impact on our children and emotions soar! Those upset about explicit violence in the media can wield their own form of rhetorical violence. Others seem oblivious to the impact of modern media on the formation of our values, priorities, decisions, and choices. Neither extreme is very helpful in taking the discussion to a deeper level.

Many see actions and behavior that disagree with their views of Christian living, and say that much of today's media as well as the culture is “immoral.” I am convinced that this creates an adversarial relationship between “religion” and “culture.” Culture is neither “moral” nor “immoral.” The media itself is “a-moral.” In reality, no one makes moral choices for us except ourselves.

We do, however, have a responsibility to proclaim our faith values to the world. We are at our best as Catholics when we attempt to influence and persuade, treating the media as an ally instead of an adversary. To be counter-cultural does not mean to be anti-culture. The negative attitude so many religious people have towards the media can serve only to widen the gap between religion and culture. In so doing, we can lose all credibility with those who do not hold the same value system as ours. 

Seeking justice and proclaiming the sacredness of all life and the dignity of all people, especially of women, are at the core of our values. Treating culture and the media as pariahs will guarantee that no one will listen to the values we wish so deeply to impart.

A Note About Our Children:

We often ask the media to “baby sit” our children in our busy lives. Many have become comfortable with children spending hour after hour in front of television sets, CD players, VCRs, and computer screens. We must ensure that the media is not alone in affecting our children’s value systems.  The active involvement of those they love, trust and respect is essential. 

Resources on Media & Culture
 

Church Documents 

U.S. Bishops, Renewing the Mind of the Media: A Statement on Overcoming the Exploitation of Sex and Violence in Communications, 1998. 
Copies available from USCC Publishing Services at (800) 235-8722. Pamphlet overview also available.
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/98-141xa.htm

Books

John Roberto, Media, Faith, and Families, Don Bosco Multimedia, New Rochelle, NY, 1992

Robert W. McChesney, Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times, University of Illinois Press, 1999

Organizations

Center for Media Literacy
4727 Wilshire Blvd. #403, Los Angeles, CA 90010 
Phone:  (800) 226-9494
E-mail: cml@medialit.org
http://www.medialit.org

National Institute on Media and the Family 
606 - 24th Ave South, #606, Minneapolis, MN 55454 
Phone: (612) 672-5437 
E-mail: information@mediafamily.org
http://www.mediaandthefamily.org/home.html

TV-Free America 
1611 Connecticut Ave, NW — Suite 3A 
Washington, DC 20009
Phone:  (202) 887-0436
E-mail:  tvfa@essential.org
http://www.tvfa.org
 

Family Guide for Using Media
USCC Committee for Communications
http://www.usccb.org/comm/familyguide.htm
 

Family Video Reviews
USCC Office for Film & Broadcasting

Movies are evaluated by the USCC according to artistic merit and moral suitability. Reviews include USCC rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie. 

http://www.usccb.org/movies/videoall.htm

Tidewater Sowers
By Patrice Schwermer -- St. Pius X Parish, Norfolk

General Assembly 2000 was both exciting and frustrating for Tidewater Sowers of Justice. Months of organizing, local legislative visits, telephone calls, letters, and visits to legislators in Richmond yielded mixed results. 

We were excited that an earned income tax credit passed. If signed by the Governor, people making incomes below the poverty line will no longer pay state income tax.   On the other hand, disappointment came when the Capital Case Bill of Review was crippled in the Senate, and was finally carried over for study.  Our effort to change the 21-Day Rule will continue as we will soon make local visits with Senators Ken Stolle and Nick Rerras who serve on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. 

[NOTE: For a complete summary of the 2000 session of the Virginia General Assembly, click here.]

In the meantime, we are gearing up with a grassroots campaign to seek a moratorium on executions in Virginia.  Copies of resolutions for a moratorium are being distributed to area Catholic churches for their consideration.  St. Pius, and hopefully other parishes, will make the resolutions available for individual parishioners to sign.

Other communities of faith and community organizations are also being invited to endorse the resolution.  Following this grass roots effort, we will approach Tidewater City Councils asking that they adopt resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions in Virginia.  The killing must stop! 

Tidewater Sowers have been enjoying two excellent Russell Institute classes. Steve Baggerly has led a six session course, Jubilee Justice. Theresa Dunleavy organized a three part series, Death as Penalty: A Faith Perspective on Capital Punishment, led by several speakers.
In April, Sowers members will participate in several rallies and demonstrations being held in Washington DC -- Close the School of the Americas (SOA) on April 2-3; Jubilee 2000 Debt Forgiveness Rally & Advocacy Day on April 9-10; and the International Monetary Fund/World Bank action on April 16. 

Finally, Sowers will support Voices That Challenge as they organize a local SOA demonstration on May 5 in front of the offices of Senators Robb and Warner in Norfolk from 5 - 6pm.

For more information about Tidewater Sowers, contact Patrice Schwermer at (757) 583- 0291 or patrices1@juno.com .
 

Voices That Challenge
By Jeff Winder

Eighteen people gathered in March for the quarterly meeting of Voices That Challenge, the youth justice and peace group supported by Tidewater Sowers of Justice. A review of the last quarter and discussion of upcoming events generated a lot of energy. 

Young activists working on diverse issues -- animal rights, death penalty abolition, closing the School of the Americas (SOA) and the campaign to free Mumia Abu-Jamal (a death row prisoner in Pennsylvania) -- found a network of mutual support and the renewed focus that comes from meeting with kindred spirits.

Voices encourage people to wear a black ribbon on the day of state executions.  They continue to vigil in Norfolk with Tidewater Sowers on the days of state executions. 

On April 9 at St. Nicholas, Voices will hold an educational forum on the death sentence imposed on Mumia Abu-Jamal, the issues surrounding his case, and police brutality. Several Voices members from Catholic High School will participate in National Catholic Advocacy Day in Washington, DC on April 10. 

Group members will meet with the staff of Senators Robb and Warner in preparation for a May 5 SOA demonstration at their offices.  On May 20 Voices will participate in a march to draw attention to issues regarding poverty and homelessness in Norfolk.

The group is also working on a youth immersion weekend on the Eastern Shore that helps participants learn about the migrant worker experience and make connections between poverty, hunger and global issues.

College and high school students are welcome to attend the next Voices meeting on Sunday, June 4.  For more information, contact  Patrice Schwermer at (757) 583-0291 or patrices1@juno.com.
 
 

More Media Articles

Media Bulimia
By Paul Keller, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

My solitary place is a beach along the Atlantic Ocean.  The only sounds are the pounding surf and the squawk of birds.  It is here that I experience the solitude that welcomes prayer.

Solitude is where I begin a conversation with God: sharing my hopes and dreams, begging forgiveness for the hurts I caused, and asking graces for myself and others.

The return from solitude is like walking off the beach into the ocean.  I am quickly inundated by many activities and concerns.  Though I swim the intended direction at a frantic pace, the tide is strong and pushes me in other directions.  I always seem to be somewhere other than where I want to be. I depend on faith for guidance.  Faith is a helmsman that speaks softly.  I can hear best in solitude.

I cannot always visit the beach to recover my solitude.  Could I find solitude in my home?

At my house, the world gushes from the Internet and television.  I spend most of my discretionary time surfing the waves of information on the Internet or drifting through the currents of fantasies on television.  At the end of each evening, my time is used up.  My mind is overfed with the sights and sounds of the electronic media.

During a previous Lent, thirsting for solitude, I experimented with an electronic media fast.  Each week I would abstain from the Internet and television for one evening.  I must tell you that this was a difficult fast for me, a media junkie.  I really feared losing touch with the world or missing a great show.  But in time, I started to become more comfortable with the loss.  I could accept the cross of not knowing the news of the hour or the latest episode of popular shows.  I actually began to welcome the quiet. (I never re-plugged the television.)

Can you imagine an evening without electronic media?  I can tell you that it is quiet enough to read that spirituality book you always wanted to read.  Quiet enough to let the heart murmur thanks to God for the graces in your life.  Quiet enough to reflect on where you are in the ocean of life, and what changes you want to make.  Quiet enough to wonder what it would be like if you got home while it was still light, unplugged the media, went off to a solitary corner of the house, and had a conversation with God.
 

Turn Off the TV!

On April 24-30, millions of people across the U.S. (and in 30 other countries) will turn off their TVs for seven days and rediscover that life can be more constructive, rewarding, healthy -- even informed -- with more time and less TV. Since 1995, more than 18 million people have experimented (and flourished) with a TV-less lifestyle. 

National TV-Turnoff Week is part of a broad effort to reduce the amount of television that Americans watch. The annual event focuses on what all TV-viewing displaces: creativity, healthy physical activity, civic involvement, reading, thinking, and doing. 

"Both television and Internet are excellent means of communication and entertainment. But, sadly, exposure to the screens by children as well as adults is generally too long, an average of 4 hours a day. This causes exhaustion, impedes personal relations between parents and children, reduces the ability to concentrate ...," the promoters of the initiative explained.

To get involved, order an "Organizer's Kit." This 48-page guidebook includes pledge cards three full-color posters, three bumper stickers, facts/figures, talking points, articles, essays and many useful items designed for easy reproduction and distribution. The kit provides virtually everything needed to organize a successful local event. The $15 cost is fully tax-deductible. A Spanish language version of the kit is available on request. 

The organizer of the initiative - TV Free America - may be contacted at (202) 887-0436 or via e-mail at tvfa@essential.org.  Or visit their web site at http://www.tvfa.org.
 
 
 
 

Rich Media, Poor Democracy

Robert McChesney's Rich Media, Poor Democracy is a scary book. It catalogs the astounding growth of the transnational corporations that increasingly dominate all forms of media -- from radio and TV to movies, music, and book publishing, from newspapers and magazines to the Internet and telephone networks. 

Media sectors that were once relatively open and competitive have dramatically consolidated:

• In 1985, 12 firms controlled 25% of all movie theaters, by 1998 they controlled 61%. 
• Some 80% of book retailing is controlled by a few national chains, as the share of sales by independent book dealers fell from 42% to 20% in the mid-'90s. 
• Six firms now control 80% of the nation's cable TV. 

Transnational corporations have unleashed a ceaseless effort to increase the reach of their advertising:

• Half of U.S. movie screens show ads before films. 
• Monitors show ads to those waiting in register lines. 
• A recent Jim Carrey movie -- Liar, Liar -- was promoted with tiny stickers placed on 12 million apples. 
• Floors in public buildings, cash machines, even bathroom stalls are now all fair game for advertising. 

Rich Media, Poor Democracy makes a powerful case about what's wrong with the current media system and what could be right with a very different one. 
 

Media Manipulation
By Arathi Jayaram, a member of Voices That Challenge who defends animals, humans, and the environment

Three months before the beginning of the Gulf War, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus held a hearing on Capital Hill.  This was the first formal presentation of Iraqi human rights violations. 

During this hearing, a tearful 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl told about gun-toting Iraqi soldiers storming a Kuwait City hospital.  She stated that they ransacked incubators and dumped the babies on the floor to die. This story was given to the media and was even repeated by President Bush. The tale helped to sway the vote to favor a declaration of war.  But what the American public didn't know was that the Human Rights Caucus was a front group for the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton.  The 15-year-old girl was a member of Kuwait's Royal family.  This PR firm created a false story and a false victim. 

In the book Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, authors John C. Stauber and Sheldon Rampton show a side to corporations that many are unaware of -- their PR firms. 

Stauber and Rampton explain how this multi-million dollar industry helps to mitigate the undemocratic power of wealthy special interest groups.  PR firms spoon-feed sound bites to media sources (like in the story above), send spies into environmental and animal rights organizations, and even create fictitious grassroots groups to promote their agenda.

Every advocate of social justice will find this book vital in understanding the obstacles they are up against. We are battling lies that PR firms have tricked the public into believing.  After all, they can even convince farmers that toxic sludge is good for them. 
 
 
 

Best AIDS Resource Yet!
By Stephen Lenton, AIDS TAsk Force Chair

A collaborative project of the National Catholic AIDS Network and Catholic Charities USA, Many Threads, One Weave is the product of four years work by a task force of HIV/AIDS educators and caretakers.  This team researched successful models of parish-based HIV/AIDS ministry, and produced a great user-friendly resource for those who wish to initiate or enhance HIV/AIDS ministry within their faith communities.

Many give witness to the unique role which the Church -- especially at the parish level -- can fill by providing pastoral care to those living with or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS.

Many Threads, One Weave provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the Church’s response including key areas as:

• The Parish as Welcoming and Healing Community
• Organizing Ministry
• Educating about HIV/AIDS
• Caregiving
• Psycho-Social Issues

ORDERING INFO:

A package of AIDS resources that includes one copy of Many Threads, One Weave Resource & Training Manual as well as the Living with AIDS: An Occasion of Grace video  is available for $74.95 per set (includes shipping and handling) from the National Catholic AIDS Network, P.O. Box 960, Occidental, CA 95465.

Reflections on Faith-Based Community Organizing in the Roanoke Valley
By Ray Higgins, Director of Roanoke Interfaith Sponsoring Committee

When I returned home two years ago , I had no idea what would await me. I had worked for six years in California as a community organizer in Latino and African-American churches. My poor mom had a hard time telling people what I do: “Well, he went to seminary but isn’t a preacher. He’s called an Organizer.” The usual response was: “What does he organize?” As I drove home after a long journey, I found myself asking a similar question: “Will I ever organize again?”

I am happy to answer that question with a resounding “Yes.” I am a community organizer again and work for a group called the Roanoke Interfaith Sponsoring Committee (RISC). We are 18 congregations seeking to advance the Reign of God by working for the spiritual and social transformation of our congregations and neighborhoods. RISC is the only valley-wide organization that is explicitly developing leaders, discerning common concerns, and holding decision-makers accountable to the root causes of poverty that devastate the lives of low to moderate income families.

RISC is made up African-American, Caucasian, and Latino families that attend Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations. We bridge the gap of race and class by working on issues that impact our families such as public safety, quality education, a living wage, adequate health care for all, and proper care for our seniors. 

Black and white pastors who had never met each other are working together to empower poor families so they can have a voice in the decisions that affect their communities. The common good is our goal, and relationship building is the vehicle that gets us there.

I believe that faith-based community organizing and the work of RISC is bringing to life the dream of racial and Christian unity in our little part of Virginia. People keep asking me: “How did you get all them pastors together?” My answer is quite simple: “I called them up and asked if they would discuss their hopes and concerns regarding our community?” Most of them answered “Yes,” and a year later a group that represents over 10,000 families is getting ready to introduce itself to the powers and principalities of the Roanoke Valley.